One More Night
by LLockedOut
Summary: Hylda has moved on from her life on Asgard and is starting to enjoy her new life on Earth. However, the God of Mischief has come to take what is his once more. Will Loki get his crown and his queen? Or has Hylda finally rid him from her system for good. She made the wrong choice before, and refuses to do so again. But was the wrong choice choosing Loki, or leaving him behind...
1. Chapter 1

**I'm baaaack!**

**Weow, who's ready for the second part of this adventure?!**

**Before we begin I wanted to share this quote from TOM HIDDLESTON(got your attention didn't I? ;)) on how he describes Loki's mindset at the end of Thor.**

_**When you see Loki let go of that spear at the end of Thor, he lets go of Asgard, he lets go of Asgard and his need for that place and his attachment and need for the affection and respect of Odin and his brother. As he disappears in that wormhole, that's a literal way of saying, 'I'm done. Asgard is gone and I have other things to do. At the beginning of The Avengers, you see the beginnings of what Loki is planning and if he doesn't belong in Asgard, where might he belong? In that tragic place of confusion of 'Where do I belong in this universe?' Loki's answer is 'I will make myself belong,' which is dark and menacing and dangerous.**_

**I thought it was perfect as that is how I plan for Loki to be in this story. A little dark and uncaring to anything that doesn't follow his selfish plan, but at the same time just looking for belonging. **

**Also, I chose the title One More Night after the Maroon 5 song. It suits this story perfectly. Read the lyrics to it if you don't know them.**

**So here is the first chapter! :D**

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Hylda dodge another income blow as she leapt into the air to avoid another kick. She twisted her body midair, throwing her fist into her opponent's back. As she landed on her hands the Asgardian twisted again to face her attacker. Once her feet were back on the ground Hylda attempted to jump back, away from the oncoming fist, but her feet were swept out from under her. Hylda let out a growl as her back hit the hard ground. Apparently they had a different meaning than she did for the term 'one-on-one'.

Swinging her legs to the side, Hylda knocked down the newcomer. She grabbed their shoulder as they stumbled to hoist herself to a standing position. She brought her knee to the person's gut just as the other person yanked her back by her shoulders. Hylda landed a punch in the person's gut as her other arm was twisted behind her by a third opponent. The goddess launched her elbow backwards to try to shake off her captor but was unsuccessful. The other two rounded on her and Hylda managed to kick off one of them. The second landed a strong punch in her stomach. The opponent behind her twisted Hylda's other arm behind her too as she doubled over.

Finally feeling fed up Hylda closed her eyes as she took a deep breath.

Hylda curled her fingers into fists and torn her arms away from her captor with all her strength. She let out a short yell as her body expelled a burst of energy. The three around her were launched backwards a short distance, each giving a grunt as their bodies hit the floor.

Placing her hands on her knees, the goddess took a moment to steady her breathing before straightening. Hylda brushed the strands of hair that had come loose from her pony tail out of her face. She grinned as she looked around the room.

"Not fair" Clint Barton grumbled, rolling over onto his back. This only made Hylda laugh.

"Yeah" Maria Hill added as she got up off the floor. "This was supposed to be hand-to-hand only training."

"It was also supposed to be one-on-one" Hylda replied. "But Clint and Natasha clearly don't know the meaning of that."

Natasha Romanoff rolled her eyes as she walked over to help Clint up. "That's what would have happened in reality thought" the redhead remarked. "When the enemy doesn't play fair, neither do you."

Maria walked over and playfully punched Hylda in the arm. "Next time I'll use some of my secret skills and kick your ass."

"Like your ability so make any food you touch uneatable?" Clint called.

Maria glared at the blonde and Hylda laughed again. "That's no secret Clint," she replied. "_Everyone_ knows Maria can't cook for shit."

The brunette was about to retort when Agent Coulson walked into the training room. "Agent Hill, the director needs you. As for Agent Romanoff, your plan is about to leave."

The women nodded as Coulson turned to leave, Maria right behind him.

"I should go too, I have watch duty again" Clint said.

Hylda looked up to the ceiling of the training room. "I think I'll stay here for a bit longer. Let me know how my baby's doing Clint, and good luck on the mission Natasha."

He chuckled at her. Hylda had begun working closely with Dr. Selvig on the Tesseract. The blue box reminded her of the casket on Asgard. It made her feel more at home, to sense another form of magical energy. The moment she started examining it they began getting positive reactions data from it. Erik joked it must have been her motherly touch, and since then she had referred to it as her baby.

"Sure, later Hy."

Hylda smiled at the pair as they left. Natasha nodded in return, her eyes displaying a little warmth towards the Asgardian. She wasn't very close with Agent Romanoff, but she respected her as an agent. The woman was talented and had a strong will, which Hylda could appreciate. While Natasha very standoffish when they had first met, she was slightly kinder to her now. She treated Hylda the same as she did any other agent of SHEILD, which wasn't necessarily the nicest, but it was all Hylda could ask for. She knew the agent had been wary of her powers before and didn't trust Hylda the first year she was with SHEILD. She couldn't blame her though; Hylda's appearance on Earth wasn't prime timing. To this day Hylda was sure that Natasha wasn't one hundred percent comfortable with her abilities, especially having honed them over the past two years.

_Hylda groaned as she rolled her head back. She felt ridiculously stiff after having sat in such an uncomfortable metal chair for so long. Not to mention that the stark white walls were giving her a headache. She understood why SHIELD separated Cal and her, and for assuming they were initially a threat. Loki did destroy one of their towns, hours before their arrival. However, she did continuously plea that she meant no harm and that she wasn't a threat yet they still tossed her around like a sack of dung._

_Unconsciously she rubbed her slightly bruised wrists. A cold redheaded woman had bound her hand while she was being transported to this facility. Needless to say she wasn't gentle. She was even rough when she blindfolded her. At first the Asgardian thought she could appeal to the woman, send her positive energy to prove she wasn't a threat. No such luck._

_She had looked so disgusted and mortified when she had gone through Hylda's belongings and found Loki's book. Clearly she was never one to believe in 'magic' as a child._

_Hylda's head snapped forwards as the door in front of her opened. A tall man in a black coat walked in. Was he wearing a patch over his eye…? Behind him came the cold redhead from before._

"_Now before we get to business let me make one thing perfectly clear" the man said as he stood in front of Hylda, "you are unrestrained because we have word from a source that you were close to Thor. However, do not think for a second that should you prove to be a threat I will hesitate in taking you out… because I won't. Got it?"_

_She nodded._

"_Good. Now let's talk about why you people have a habit of coming to my planet unannounced…"_

Hylda debated on lying to Director Fury that day, but she knew that Thor would one day return for Jane and when that day came she would have a lot of explaining to do. So she opted to tell Fury everything except her relationship with Loki. She merely said that they were friends, which was more than the other considered him, and that's why he didn't try to kill her like the others. She told him that she had been a distraction so that the others could come to earth to get Thor then tried to lay low and not raise Loki's suspicious. It kind of explained why she wasn't with the others when they came to earth and why Loki hadn't killed her.

She had been confused by how much the Director knew about Thor and her friends, but realized quickly that Jane must be the 'source' he spoke of.

As to why she left Asgard, Hylda confessed that she felt the loss of her friend more so than the others. She also mentioned how she lost her second in command, someone who had been as close as family to her, leaving her to feel very lost and alone. That part was very true. Since the moment Hylda's feet landed on Earth, the goddess felt like a part of her was missing. She couldn't feel Eir's constant energy like she used too. If she delved deep into herself she could feel the Valkyries, which were surprising still under her command, but she couldn't feel Eir. It made her truly feel lost. She was alone in Midgard, as she was barely familiar with her travel partner Cal.

That was two years ago.

Hylda had moved on from her days in Asgard, and was now one of SHIELD's top agents. It wasn't easy but Hylda had tried her hardest to gain the agents' trust and respect. While she was adequate friends with Clint, Hylda was closer with Agent Maria Hill. Being Fury's top agent, after Coulson, Maria was assigned to watch over and eventually train Hylda. While she was wary of her at first like Natasha, Maria eventually realized that the goddess provided no threat and wanted nothing more than a place to belong. A couple months later Maria and Hylda were partners on multiple missions. Hylda was one of the few who could say that she say the Maria Hill beyond the Agent persona she put on every day.

The two agents were close, but the role of Hylda's 'best friend' on Midgard went to Ms. Pepper Potts.

It all started when Hylda wanted to advance her training to more 'Asgardian' standards. After countless hours of begging and groveling at Fury's feet, the Director finally allowed Hylda to practice her 'magic'. The man seemed to realize that should there be another attack from outside Earth's atmosphere it wouldn't hurt to have a little fire power that was 'out of this world' as well. Then came the issue of where Hylda would practice. While the SHEILD facilities were well equipped it was not quite enough to sustain the damage that the goddess could accidently cause. She also needed something to practice on and she didn't want to use agents (no matter how tempted Fury was).

Tony Stark was the answer.

Having built all his suits in his own home, Tony's lab was used to explosions and disaster. Stark manor also had the greatest security system there was, Jarvis. With an area capable of enduring a good beating and a system to keep a watchful eye on SHEILD's newest member, Tony's home was the perfect solution. Hylda had insisted on going with Coulson to ask Stark to use his lab, although to Fury is was more like demanding that she be allowed to use it. After Tony gleefully rubbing it in that he had something SHIELD did not and that they needed _his_ help he finally agreed. Naturally Tony interrupted Hylda all the time, constantly curious about her and her abilities. That led to Pepper constantly scolding him and apologizing. After a while the couple started asking her to join them for lunch or dinner, even to stay the night.

It was then that Hylda realized that to Tony and Pepper she wasn't something 'odd'. Despite earning her status in SHEILD and the respect of most of the organizations top agents, Hylda still got weird looks and vibes from people. It was similar to that on Asgard. She was different, and they didn't like that. However with Tony and Pepper, Hylda was normal. She wasn't a Goddess, she wasn't some freak with magical power, she wasn't even a SHEILD agent. She was just a friend. Needless to say Hylda grab onto that friendship with a death grip and refused to let it go. She had failed her friends once before, she wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

Pepper and Hylda's relationship grew until one night, when Hylda confessed everything. She told Pepper every detail about her life on Asgard from her childhood to her relationship with Loki. The goddess told her every emotion she felt, and how confused she had been. She explained her guilt towards her friends and Loki. She wasn't sure why, but Hylda felt the need to tell someone her story. Her complete story. It felt good to get it all off her chest, to allow someone to see her life completely and hold nothing back. For once Hylda didn't hide anything. The best part was that Pepper didn't judge. She seemed to completely understand Hylda. Pepper Potts was the greatest woman Hylda had ever met. After living with Tony Stark for so long, Pepper had become tolerant of people's flaws.

Hylda was content with her life once again. She missed Asgard, but she knew deep down that she had to leave. She hoped to one day see her friends and her home again, but for now she was happy with her life of Midgard.

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**Thus it begins!**

**Nothing too exciting, just setting the stage for the action to begin ;) I didn't want to make it too fluffy and all Hyldas-friends- with-everyone-yay-sunshine-rainbows, but I feel like when the world isn't being attack SHEILD is like any other job. You have co-works, some like you and some don't. So I wanted to show a general acquaintance with SHIELD top dogs.**

**I also thought it was important to give Hylda someone she can really trust. As much as I love Maria Hill, she is too close with Fury to keep Hylda's past a secret and Natasha is a bitch :P I don't hate her… but she's not the friendliest of characters lol This also gives Hylda a support group when Loki comes and blows her happy life to shit ;P**

**Please review and let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I only own what you don't recognize.**

**Thank you everyone for the reviews, follows and favs. You guys are the best :)**

**Now on to the second chapter!**

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After working out for a bit longer Hylda headed home to her apartment. As she walked to her car she checked her phone. When she first came to earth, after SHEILD deemed her non-threatening, Hylda had to learn all about Earth's technology. It had been a long and frustrating process, but she was well-versed now. Her favorite discovery had been the cellphone. Even after two years, the little device still amazed her. She could talk to someone that was _far away_, even send them messages _instantly_. Asgard had no form of communication like that. Someone would have to pen a letter than have a messenger deliver it, or some people had the gift of telepathy. Even then it only worked if the person was only a short journey away. With a cellphone, Hylda could contact anyone in the world. Her car was another pleasant discovery. It was much easier than walking, or riding a horse. It was also less dizzying then taking the BiFrost. Hylda had struggled learning how to operate the vehicle at first but she got the hang of it after a while. SHEILD had given her a little red hatchback. It was perfect to her, but Tony often joked that it was a 'wimpy' car.

All Hylda could think about her whole drive home was the cup of green tea she was craving. Once she entered her apartment she headed straight for the kitchen. As she took out the kettle and the container of teabags, she heard shifting behind her. Her body tensed and she spun around to meet a familiar pair of eyes. They glittered with amusement at her.

"Two sugars for me please" Cal smirked.

"I didn't give you a spare key so you could scare me" Hylda said while she rolled her eyes.

He laughed and Hylda continued to make their tea. "So what bring you here, something that you couldn't have told me over the phone or text? And why do you look so happy?"

His smile widened. "We've been making great progress!"

It almost came out as a squeal, and Hylda wondered what could have this grow man as excited as a little girl. When the pair had arrived on Earth, they had both begun training to become SHEILD agents. Half way through they had both discovered the Tesseract and since it was 'supernatural' like they were they started to help with its experimentation. Hylda still focused on her training, but Cal decided to dedicate his whole time to the project.

The woman took out two large mugs and put a tea bag in each, her mind still musing about the man behind her. He was a surprisingly smart man, given that he came from a world of magic and not science, but the two seemed to fuse perfectly in his brain. However, dedication soon became obsession. Cal's desire to work with the Tesseract made Hylda slightly uneasy. She felt like he knew something she did not. Hylda put the kettle on the stove, turning the burner, before turning to face Cal again. She leaned against the counter as she watched him fidget excitedly in his chair.

"She's waking up, Hylda!" he exclaimed. "Soon she'll be ready."

"Ready for what" She didn't like the sound of that.

"Ready to open the door! It's a passage, Hylda, to someplace else."

Hylda frowned. Even back on Asgard, passages to unknown realms were risky. Let alone a place like Earth, who had no experience with other realms. "Isn't that dangerous Cal? I mean, who knows what's on the other side?"

The man smiled eerily at her, and she got that he-know-something feeling again. "Do you know what on the other side, Cal?" she asked hesitantly. Hylda wasn't sure which concerned her more, not knowing where the Tesseract leads or Cal knowing and being suspiciously excited about it. Cal had never been a fan of Earth. While Hylda tried her hardest to adapt and eventually grew to like the planet and her friends here, Cal kept to himself and only worked with others when it involved something for him to gain from it.

The goddess frowned as she turned back to the whistling kettle. She picked it up and poured the hot water into the mugs._ Perhaps it a way back to Asgard _her mind yelled, _you can go home!_ No, Earth was her home now. She had people who cared about her here; Pepper, Tony, Maria, Clint, Phil… even Natasha. She wasn't sure if the people of Asgard still cared for her. _No. _She had long accepted her fate her on Earth, even come to enjoy it. She wasn't going to start doubting that now.

Hylda would swing by the lab tomorrow and see for herself, since it was too late in the evening now. She hadn't seen Eric in a few weeks, having been so busy training with Stark. Deciding that's what she would do, Hylda handed Cal his mug and struck up a casual conversation. She didn't want to talk about the Tesseract again until she had done her own diagnostic of it.

()()()()()()

Hylda stood in Central Park. It was completely vacant and not a living soul in sight. There were no birds chirping or cars driving by. It was dead silent.

_How did I get here?_

The woman looked around for any sign of life. She could see a silent wind blowing through the tree and grass. Leaves danced across the sidewalk. Was it cold? Hylda wasn't sure. She couldn't feel a specific temperature; she couldn't even feel the blowing wind. Looking down at herself, she saw that she wore normal clothes. Tight black pants and a black t-shirt, but she wasn't wearing shoes. Why wouldn't she be wearing shoes if she was out? Hylda tried to walk forward, and was surprised to find she could. She walked through the grass, feeling no difference in the texture against her bare feet. She froze when she reached the side of the road. Hylda stared down the empty street before her. This was impossible, for there to be no people. This wasn't real then. Hylda suddenly felt very trapped and claustrophobic. If this wasn't real, then where was she? Fear started to trickle into her veins. She had no control. She didn't know where she was so she had no idea of how to escape. Closing her eyes, Hylda tried to reach out with her mind, to find something to pull her back to reality.

Something pulled her. At the very edge of her mind, something scratched at the stretch of her thoughts. She tried to grasp the sensation and pull it into herself. As she continued to reach for it, a soft breeze brushed her arm. She could also hear a faint whisper. Hylda tried harder, thinking the pull on her mind was her ticket out of wherever she was. Eyes snapping open in shock, a wave of power flooded her senses. Suddenly the soft breeze became a harsh wind and the whispers became shouts. Hylda tried to push the force away, but it already filled her veins. The wind became more violent, whipping her hair around her. The shouts became terrified yells and shrieks. The woman looked around her in search of the people in pain. She saw no one. Hylda covered her ears as the bodiless shouts became too loud. But she could still hear them, just as loud as before. Whatever it was, was in her mind.

A loud smash caused her to jump back. The buildings around her began to crumble, chucks of brick hitting the ground and kicking dust into air. The beautiful architecture of New York was being destroyed in front of her by some unseen force. She wanted to run, but found that her body was frozen in place. Hylda wasn't sure if she was paralyzed in fear, or if something else was keeping her still. After what felt like hours of watching her new home be destroyed, something changed. The scene around her continued, buildings being reduced to their crumbling foundations, but the sound began to filter out. Taking its place was a loud menacing laugh. It sent shivers down Hylda's spine, yet she thought it sounded familiar. The air around her became dense with dust making it hard to see. Suddenly pain shot up her arm as a burning sensation erupted on the inside of her wrist. Hylda shut her eyes; doubling over slightly s the burning became greater. Soon she could no longer feel the wind or dust, just the fire on her skin. She felt her mind weaken, slipping from wherever she was. The last thing that flashed through Hylda mind was a pair of bright green eyes, as a gentle though passed through her. _Soon_, it called.

Then everything went black.

()()()()()()

Hylda awoke with a start. She shot up into a sitting position, panting heavily. _That was a strange dream_ she thought to herself. That's all it was though, a dream. She had bought a different brand of green tea; maybe it made her have vivid dreams? That happened sometimes, she was told. Giving her head a shake to rid it of the dream and any lingering tiredness, Hylda pulled herself out of bed.

After running some errands and whatnot during the day, Hylda heading to the SHEILD base in the evening. Walking into the lab, she smiled at the familiar sounds of the machines humming softly as scientist hurried around the large space. Everything was bathed in a slight blue glow from the Tesseract. She waved to Clint in his nest before walking over to Dr. Eric Selvig.

"How's my baby, Doc?" she asked as she nodded to his computer screen.

"Cranky today" the man laughed. "Has been for the past couple of days. Maybe she just missed her mother."

Hylda chuckled and looked over Eric's shoulder at the screen. He noticed her confused expression. "I got a weird energy surge a couple hours ago" he explained. "It seemed to set her off. She's been twitchy ever since."

"Who was here when it happened?"

"Just Donoway and Cal, I think. Neither said they know what happened."

The woman frowned. Cal shows up at her house all excited about some developments with the cube, and then the next day they get a weird reaction when no one is in the room but Cal? Hylda fought the feeling of suspicious that started to bubble.

She nodded to Eric, than took his place in front of the computer. Her fingers tapped away at the keyboard, trying to find something off with the readings. Everything looked to be in order. Her frown deepened.

"You don't look too happy Hy" a voice called through her ear piece. The goddess chuckled and rolled her eyes.

"I'm not, Clint."

"Something wrong with you daughter?"

Hylda laughed again. "I think I'm the only one that thinks so" she said. No matter how many times she checked and re-checked the data, she couldn't find anything wrong. There was no calculation error, nothing. Whatever the Tesseract as doing, it was natural.

"What do you mean?" he asked

"We believe that the Tesseract is a doorway. Cal seems to think that all this sporadic behavior is caused because it's getting ready to open, to activate. Cal is ecstatic, but I have a bad feeling about this. Even where I come from, stuff like this is dangerous. We have no idea where the door leads to. It could be dangerous. Asgard is friendly, but not all realms are. Especially to a realm that's so new to the experience like Earth."

"So it's a portal to another realm, and there's a chance that realm could be Asgard? Isn't that a good thing, Hy? That means you could go home. That's why Cal is so excited about it."

Hylda's face dropped. "I don't want to Clint. This is my home now. While Cal might not enjoy it here, I do... Even so, there's a slim chance it's to Asgard. There are many other worlds. Bottom line is that this could be very, very dangerous."

"Well if it's dangerous, can we just not open the door?"

"It's not that simple Clint" Hylda replied, running another test on the Tesseract. "Whatever is happening to it, it isn't our doing. Whoever, or whatever, is on the other side is the one trying to open the door. That's what scares me."

He was silent for a moment, before speaking in a more serious tone. "And there's no way to stop it?"

Hylda gave a heavy sigh, stepping away from the computer. She walked over to the glowing cube and placed a hand on its container. The metal was warm under her fingers and palm, and she could feel the supernatural powers buzzing through her veins. The woman couldn't shake the bad vibe it was giving off. "Apparently not" she sighed again. "We can't seem to turn the Tesseract off. It's its own source of energy. I just find it odd that it started acting up _now_. Something must have triggered it. Speaking of which, were you hear when they got the weird reading?"

"No. I was helping Eric move some equipment from another leave. There weren't many scientist there though, just Cal and some other guy I think."

Hylda bit her lip, that's what scared her. However, she knew if anything fishy had gone on in the lab, Clint would have seen it.

"I haven't seen anything suspicious here" he finally replied, "must be on the other side then. Maybe whatever it is couldn't open it till now. Like it had to power up or something. We began to get better results when you and Cal started working on it. Maybe it's been feeding off your energy, and only now has the ability to make the connection to the other door."

It was a viable reason, but Hylda had a gut feeling that this situation wasn't that innocent. "True, but something tells me that isn't it. What if whatever it is didn't _want_ to open the portal till now? What if it had to prepare?"

"You're being pessimistic Hy."

"Clint, the Tesseract isn't the first of its kind. There are all kinds of things with this ability scattered among the realms. More times than not, they play a large part in wars between realms."

Hylda didn't get to listen to Clint's reply as her arm was yanked away from the machine. She turned to face Eric, who held her wrist gently in his palm.

"Danmit Hylda" Eric said staring down at the inside of her wrist. "What the hell did you do to yourself?"

Confused, Hylda stepped closer and let her eyes follow the doctor's gaze. On the inside of her wrist was a large circular burn. The flesh looked red and angry, like it had happened recently. "Oh" she said, "I didn't even notice that. Must have done something during training yesterday."

"What on earth kind of training were you doing?" his voice was laced with concern. He let go of Hylda's wrist, and she brought it closer to her face. After inspecting it for a moment she looked back to the doctor.

"No clue. You know how it is though, always finding random bumps and bruises." She smiled at him, trying to reassure him it was nothing. She honestly had no idea how she acquired the mark. Eric merely gave her a skeptic look before nodding back to the computer. Before they could move towards the computer, a voice rang out through the lab.

"Talk to me doctor" Fury called, strolling towards them.

"Director" Eric replied, walking towards him.

"Is there anything we know for certain?" Someone had clearly briefed him on their predicament.

"The Tesseract is misbehaving."

Just as Eric spoke, a young scientist came up behind Hylda. He pointed a long metal rod at the cube, as if he were going to poke it. Before he got too close a bolt of energy shot out at the rod, shocking the scientist holding it. Hylda swatted his hand away and glared at him. _What made him thing that would be a good idea? _

Hylda heard the Director speak as they reached her. "How soon can we pull the plug?"

"We can't" she told him. His dark eye turned to her, scrutinizing her under his gaze. She continued. "The Tesseract is its own energy source. If we try to pull the plug, she just turns it back on."

Fury didn't seem to be happy with that answer, and Hylda hoped wouldn't be dealt his frustrations. Thankfully he just nodded at her, acknowledging he heard her.

"Agent Hylda, go help Agent Coulson make sure the evacuation is running smoothly. If something goes wrong, I trust you two to have everybody out."

"Yes sir" she nodded, before turning to leave. Exiting the lab, Hylda activated her earpiece.

"Coulson, what level are you on? Fury told me to help with the evac."

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**Let me know what you think of this chapter and the story so far!**

**Reviews make me update faster! ;)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I only own what you don't recognize!**

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_**Recap:**_

_**"Agent Hylda, go help Agent Coulson make sure the evacuation is running smoothly. If something goes wrong, I trust you two to have everybody out."**_

_**"Yes sir" she nodded, before turning to leave. Exiting the lab, Hylda activated her earpiece.**_

_**"Coulson, what level are you on? Fury told me to help with the evac."**_

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The building shook as Phil Coulson and Hylda were getting the last few people and pieces of equipment out. A large tremor shook through, causing Hylda to stumble against a wall.

"What's happening Phil?" Hylda asked as he came over to help her up.

He gave her friendly smile, "you're the scientist, shouldn't you know?"

She rolled her eyes jokingly. Another tremor rocked the building. Coulson's face turned serious and he shouted at the agents to hurry. "Come on; let's get this stuff out of here."

They were almost finished when Phil's walkie buzzed.

"Hill!" Fury's voice yelled through the walkie talkie. "Do you copy?"

The Director's breathy was labored and he sounds like he was in pain. What was happening? Fury, Maria, Phil, Clint and Hylda all had their radios tuned to the same frequency. It was a private line they could use to talk amongst themselves without anyone else in SHEILD hearing. When Maria didn't' reply, Hylda began to worry slightly.

"Barton has turned!" Fury shouted.

_What?_

Turned? Had the Tesseract activated and possessed him in some way? Or worse, had whatever it was finally come through? Hylda pushed down the fear the bubbled in her stomach. Back on Asgard, she had seen all kinds of realms rise and fall because of wars like this. Earth wasn't equipped to deal with this sort of battle.

The Director's voice sounded again. "They've got the Tesseract. Shut them down!"

_They…_

Her fear was right then, something had come through the portal. She wanted to ask Fury what it was, but she knew now was a bad time. Once the evacuation was done and they had a moment to regroup she knew that Fury would explain what he needed to. Focusing at the task at hand, Hylda hurried off to help the agents hauling the last load of equipment out. The something caused the building to shutter. The trolley of cases Hylda was helping with tipped over, spilling the cases down the stairs. She tried to grab a railing for support but was knocked back by one of the agents. She tumbled down the stairs with the cases, landing with a large thud.

Her vision was blurry as she tried to get up. She raised a hand to her head to find it wet and sticky. _Great_ she mumbled. An injury was all she needed now. She heard Phil yelling at the agents as they tried to pick up the fallen cases.

"No, no, no!" he shouted. "Just leave it!"

The agents ran to the exit as Phil helped Hylda to her feet. She heard him hiss under his breath. "It's not as bad as it looks, I'm sure" she said, wiping blood from her right eye. "Come on, this place is going down any minute."

Phil nodded and put an arm around the woman's waist, just in case she passed out along the way. Once they were in the van he radioed the Director. "Everything's clear up stairs sir. You need to go."

"Roger that" he growled back. He wasn't happy, but when was he ever.

The van sped forwards, its passengers silent. The two seniors waited for word from the Director telling them anything about what was going on. They stared out the back of the van and watched as the facility they were in moments ago caved into the ground. Whatever had just happened was serious, and Hylda could feel Earth's future taking a dangerous turn. Whatever came through the cube was bad, and they now had a hold of that power. They could summon anything to the planet now.

Hylda could feel Phil nervously fidgeting beside her. She knew it wasn't out of fear; he was worried for the Director. No agent liked to be kept in the dark, and while Hylda and majority of SHEILD were used to it Fury always told Phil everything.

Finally caving it, Phil radioed the Director, "Director? Director Fury, do you copy?"

After a moment the Director spoke. "The Tesseract is with a hostile force" he said quickly. "I have men down. Hill?"

Maria's voice entered the radio.

"A lot of men still under" her voice sounded labored. "I'm not sure how many survivors."

Hylda felt her heart sick. This wasn't good. They had lost agents, an entire facility, and millions of dollars' worth of tech. Not to mention they lost the cube. The woman listen to Fury give out orders, but his final words sent a chill down her spine.

"As of right now, we are at war."

It was Hylda's fear coming true. Earth wasn't ready for a war like this, they would surely lose. Her new home was about to be taken away from her. _No,_ she thought, _this is what I trained for. I can protect Earth. Cal and I know how these wars work, we can help. _She racked her brain for what she remembers about other realms. She tried to remember which ones were hostile, which would attack another without provocation. She was brought out of her thoughts by Fury's voice.

"Coulson, when you get to base get in contact with Agent Romanoff. Tell her about Barton, that should get her back here. Agent Hylda?"

"Yes sir."

"When you get to base meet me in my ready room. We need to talk about our visitor."

"Roger that."

()()()()()()

When Hylda walked into the Director's ready room, she had no idea her life was about to take a wicked turn. She stood in front of Fury as he sat behind his desk. She said nothing, waiting for her boss to speak. After a solid 10 minutes of him staring at the file on his desk, the Director spoke.

"This man that came through the cube is from Asgard."

Hylda's body froze. _Someone from Asgard? Why would they attack Earth?_

"Sir, are you sure?"

"Are you questioning me, Agent?"

Hylda flinched at his tone. "No sir. I just can't imagine anyone from Asgard attack Earth. We have no quarrel with your people."

"Funny. I told him the same thing." Fury stood and walked over to his window. He looked out it and over the city below. "He seems to think we're in need of his help. According to him our freedom makes us weak, and he intends to rid us of that burden."

Hylda furrowed her eyebrows. No one that she knew on Asgard had that mentality. Well except one person. Her frown deepened. _It's been two years _she scolded herself, _besides you realized your mistake. Whatever happened between you two was wrong and fake. He doesn't care for others, only himself. You lost your home because of that mistake, remember that._ She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Fury turned to look at Hylda, gauging her reaction to his words. "Hylda, I need to know I have you on my side for this. Your knowledge is the best chance we have if this situation escalates. SHEILD has some tricks up its sleeve, but I need to know that one of my top agents isn't going to start feeling home sick and switch sides. So tell me, can I count on you?"

Standing up a little taller, she nodded. "Yes sir."

When Fury didn't speak right away, Hylda took that as an opening. "If I may sir, did this man give you a name?"

He sighed and turned to the window again. "Agent Hylda, I have reason to believe that you know this person. I need you to swear to me that you will not assist this hostile force."

"Sir, I gave up on my life in Asgard the moment I became an agent. You could have easily turned me away, even killed me, but you gave me a chance. I won't throw that trust away. No one from Asgard will chance that. I have no ties there anymore."

Hylda opened her mouth to say more, but Fury cut her off with a hand. "I hope you're right, Agent."

Turning to face the goddess, Fury held her in a hard gaze. "His name is Loki."

Hylda's mind went blank.

She felt her breath hitch and her heart stop. Hylda just stared at Fury with wide eyes as her brain failed to comprehend what he had just said. His words slowly started to sink in. Hylda's whole body suddenly felt heavy, like she didn't have the strength to support her limbs. One word kept flashing in her mind. _Loki._ Loki was alive? Impossible. _No, Loki couldn't be alive_… She saw him fall into the void, into the vast emptiness of the universe.

_Hylda stared down at the two princes of Asgard as they hung off the edge of the shattered Rainbow Bridge. The All-Father held tightly to Thor's leg, while Thor's hand gripped onto Loki's weapon. Loki hung off the end, his grip visibly slipping. Hylda had only seen Loki's green eyes so full of panic and fear once before, when she woke up after the fight with Laufey. Their eyes met for a moment before Loki shifted his gaze to Odin._

The same green eyes she'd seen in her dream the night before.

_"I could have done it Father!" Loki yelled. "I could have done it… for you!"_

_His eyes drifted back to Hylda for a moment as his voice lowered, "for all of us."_

_"No Loki" Odin rasped behind her. Hylda felt her breath hitched... She watched the hurt fill the green eyes as he swallowed, trying to reason through the hurt. As the hurt grew Loki narrowed his eyes at Odin. His grip started to slack, and Hylda's heart leaped into her throat._

_"No" she whispered, grey eyes meeting green. Shaking her head, Hylda continued to utter the word repeatedly. As her voice became louder her body started to shake in to All-Father's grasp. Slowly, pale fingers peeled off the metal scepter. Loki looked into her eyes, another emotion bubbling under the hurt. She saw his thin lips move, barely hearing his final words._

Good bye, my rose…

_"LOKI!"_

He couldn't have faked the emotion could he? Why would he? Why would he pretend to care about her in his final moments…?

_Hylda shrieked as she watched Loki fall into oblivious. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she numbly fell to her knees. She leaned over the broken bridge, shards of glass cutting into her flesh. Hylda continued to call his name as she sobbed, ignoring the blood now flowing from her palms._

Her palms burned, as if the wounds had reopened. She knew they hadn't, she knew if she looked down she would just see the same faint pale scars that had been there for two years.

_He was gone._

No, apparently he wasn't. Had he planned this all along?

Hylda knew that couldn't be true. Loki was a talented liar. He could twist words, fake his tone and expression, but she knew his eyes held the truth. Fury's voice brought the woman out of her musing.

"That's what I thought" Fury grumbled, walking back to his desk and sitting down. "Please, have a seat."

Hylda's eyes drifted from there spot where Fury used to be to where he'd moved to_._ Everything she told herself since that night seemed to vanish. Her heart skipped a beat at the thought of Loki still being alive. Her chest swelled with feeling of longing and happiness. _Remember what he did! He tried to kill his brother and take over the kingdom. He doesn't care about you, he never did. _She gave a slow nod before lowering herself into the chair in front of the desk. She attempted to push her feeling down, she'd come too far now. She'd moved on. Hylda had grown and realized her mistakes.

"Before Dr. Selvig was turned" Fury began, "he mentioned that this Loki was the brother of Thor. Now, when we detained you upon your arrive you said that you had been friends with Thor's brother. You also mentioned that it had been hard to grieve the loss of your friend when everyone around you hated his guts."

"I don't think I worded it quite like that-"

"Shut it, Agent."

Hylda bit her lip but remained quiet.

"The way I see it, your dear old friend just returned from the dead. That's a big deal for anyone. However, yours decided to declare war on our world."

"Director Fury, I will do whatever you need me to do to help protect this planet. He won't change that."

"Good. Now, let me explain what I need you to do."

()()()()()()

Hylda was mentally exhausted when she got back to her apartment. The more she thought about it the more the situation baffled her. Loki couldn't be alive. Maybe this person was pretending to be Loki; no one at SHEILD had seen him before so this person could be an imposter.

But something told Hylda that wasn't true. Something about her dream the night before told her Loki was alive and on Earth. It was almost like she could feel his presence. Her wrist started to tingle, drawing her attention to the odd burn. She rolled her wrist a few times to try to rid the feeling. Hylda walked into her living room and continued to stare at her wrists. She still had on the bracelet Loki had given her. She didn't know why she never took it off, but she felt like she couldn't. The blue stone mesmerized her. Sometimes it seemed so alive, the way the tones of blue swirled in it. It even seemed to glow at times, like it was right then.

Shaking her head, she flopped down on her couch she pulled out her phone. She stared at the screen, its pale glow lighting up the dark living room. After considering her options, Hylda open a message folder and hit 'New Message'.

_Has Phil been by? _Seconds later Hylda got a new message.

**Yeah. He gave Tony some files to look over. Seems serious. **Pepper always had her phone on her and replied right away.

_You could say that. Did he tell you anything?_

**You know Phil; he's good at following orders. I only managed to get bits and pieces from him.**

_And?_

**From what he told me, I got that something big is threatening Earth. Are you okay, Hy? **Pepper always had an uncanny ability to read people. Hylda wasn't being too subtle about her dismay either, even if it was over text.

_It's him Pep._

**Who's him?**

_Loki… Pepper, Loki is alive. He's the one threatening the planet. _For some reason, seeing the words before her made it feel for real. Hylda felt nervous suddenly, and for the first time in a long time she felt unsure of herself.

**Loki, as you ex-boyfriend who tried to kill his brother and destroyed a small town in the south?**

_He's not my ex Pepper! We've been over this. He never really cared for me. I was just stupid and fell for his trick. But yes…he's alive._

**Are you serious Hy?! Darn, I'm at the airport or else I'd call. I thought you said he fell into space or something?**

_He did. I guess he just… survived somehow. What do I do Pepper… _Damn it! He was doing it to her already and she hadn't even seen him yet. Everything Hylda felt on Asgard was coming back. The insecurity, the loneliness, the desire… She hated him for making her feel this way. She felt like an injure animal, scared and lost. She felt like she needed someone to hold her, love her. No! She wouldn't let this happen again.

**Look Hy, I know what it's like to have someone you care about come back from the dead (and do not argue with me, you care about him). I know what you're going through but trust me when I say you need to keep your head on straight until you have all the facts. Are you positive it's him? No. What if this guy just said he was 'Loki'? You need to keep your emotions in check and do your job. If it is really him… well we'll deal with that bridge when we come to it. **

Pepper was right, like always. And if anyone knew what she was going through it was her. Granted Pepper and Tony's situation was slightly different than Loki and her, but the emotional strain was similar. Hylda sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

_You're right. Thanks Pep._

**Anytime, Hy. You've been handed some pretty big news today, you need to relax. Take a hot shower, get a good night sleep and text me in the morning XOX**

A shower sounded heavenly, so Hylda decided to take Peppers advice. She placed her phone down on her table and walked over to the bathroom.

* * *

**So what did you think of Hylda's reaction to Loki's return? **

**How do you think Hylda will handle seeing him? Can anyone resist someone who looks that good in a suit and emerald scarf? ;)**

**Next stop… GERMANY!**

**Reviews make me write fast :)**

**Let me know what you guys thought and what you'd like to see!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I own what you don't recognize. Everything else belongs to the rightful people.**

**DUH-DA-DUH-DAAAAA**

**This one's a long one! **

**The moment you've been waiting for…**

* * *

When Hylda walked onto the bridge of the Helicarrier, the familiar atmosphere calmed her nerves. The sounds of people muttering amongst each other about stats, the sounds of keyboards clicking away and the soft buzz of the machines remind her that this was her home. She built this life and was happy with it, Loki wouldn't ruin that.

She was standing by the round table when Fury entered. He started to walk over to his spot on the platform, but stopped beside her.

"Still feel the same, Agent?" he asked, looking straight ahead.

Hylda nodded, "of course, sir."

Wordlessly Fury handed Hylda a file folder than continued to destination, barking out orders. After a few moments the doors behind Hylda opened. She felt the new presence in the room but didn't turn around. A hand was placed on her shoulder as Natasha walked by, giving Hylda a small nod. Hylda smiled back, placed the file on the table, then turned to see who had come in with the red head. An attractive blonde man stood stunned at the sight before him. Judging by his toned muscles and classic looks Hylda assumed that he was the one and only Captain America.

Being a nice person, Hylda walked over to say hi. "Captain Rogers?" she asked a pleasant smile on her face.

He turned his attention to her and gave her a shy smile." Yes ma'am."

"Welcome aboard" Hylda extended a hand to him," I'm Agent Hylda."

Rogers shook her hand and Hylda could feel just a fraction of his strength in his handshake. She could tell that under the cute shy persona, the Captain was a true solider. She saw his eyes drift to the ship around him again.

"It's amazing isn't it? I remember my first time on the bridge."

He nodded, "we've come so far since I was last awake. I still find things that amaze me to this day."

"I hear ya' solider" she said with a small laugh. When Rogers gave her an odd look, Hylda figured he hadn't been briefed about her past. "I'm not from around here" she said, laughing again.

He still stared at her oddly, so she tilted her head upwards and gestured to the sky. Rogers's eyes widened.

"A little different from the aliens in those old movies, eh?" she gave him a wink. When he didn't reply, just continued to stare, Hylda gave a nervous chuckle.

Shaking out of his shock he mumbled, "Sorry ma'am, I didn't mean to be disrespectful."

Hylda brushed him off, "Don't sweat it. Things are different now and you have a lot of things to get used to, especially in the world of SHEILD. Trust me when I say I know that feeling well."

Placing a hand on his arm she excused herself. "I'm going to see Doctor Banner, we'll talk later Cap" she smiled and walked towards the shorter man.

Doctor Banner stood close to the back of the room, fidgeting slightly. Hylda walked up to him silently and stood beside him. "There's no need to be nervous, Doctor. You're among friends here."

He looked at her out of the corner of his eyes as they narrowed slightly. He seemed to be sizing her up, seeing if she meant what she said or not.

"Agent Hylda" she said, offering him her hand. His eyes flickered with recognition for a moment before he shook her hand.

"You were working on the Tesseract."

She nodded.

"Think you can get it back for us?" her posture stiffened a bit as the thoughts of what trouble Loki could cause flashed in her mind.

"Hopefully" he replied.

Drawing her attention back to the bridge, she noticed Fury turn around and approached the table.

"Gentleman" he greeted, before looking to Hylda, "ladies."

Rogers walked over to the Director and took out a wad of cash. He withdrew a bill from it then handed it to Fury before walking forward. The Director looked at the bill than gave a smug smile. As Rogers walked to Fury's previous spot, Hylda saw Maria size him up. She tried to hold back a snicker at the impressed look the agent gave the blonde.

"Doctor, thank you for coming" Fury said, extending his hand to Banner. Hylda noticed how polite and calm he sounded, nothing like the loud harsh man he usually was. Banner shook his hand before replying.

"Thanks for asking nicely. So, how long am I staying?"

Hylda watched the Doctor as he fidgeted in front of Fury. The man seems so insecure and nervous as his eyes drifted to the floor numerous times. It was hard to believe that he could turn into a giant green beast.

"Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're free to leave" Fury answered.

At the mention of something in his field the Doctor perked up slightly, "so where are you with that?"

As Coulson began to explain their progress in tracking the cube, Hylda walked back to the table and began examine the file Fury hand given her. She sat down in one of the chairs and leaned back, file in hand.

()()()()()

Hours later Hylda had memorized all of the information in the file. It outlined the plan Fury and her had discussed on how to neutralize Loki. Apparently SHEILD had developed a formula they believed could put a stopper in a god's powers. Fury said they began working on it when Hylda and Cal first arrived, since they weren't sure if they were completely non-threatening. She also found out that Cal had been working on the project and had tested the drug on himself. They were convinced it worked, but Hylda knew that Loki was A LOT stronger than Cal. All she could do was hope for the best. She stood up to leave, just as a beeping caught her attention.

"We've got a hit."

A shiver went up Hylda's spin as she froze mid step.

She whipped around and slowly made her way over to the railing. It overlooked the screen of the man who'd spoken. Her breathing hitched slightly as she stared at the screen. There he was. She looked away for a moment and to the Director. His dark eyes were already boring into hers, and she could tell that her reaction had confirmed the picture more than any percentage match could. She gave Fury the smallest nod, trying not to draw attention to their interaction. She didn't want all of SHEILD to know about her familiarity with the hostile, even though Fury didn't have the right story either. The agent at the computer had spoken again, but Hylda wasn't paying attention. She looked back to the screen to see a video of Loki walking to a posh looking building. As he walked by the camera he smiled, his eyes seemingly looking right into the lens and at her.

After Fury addressed Rogers he called Hylda. He gave her a nod, which she returned, before the woman turned to leave. IT was time to put their plan into action. She would have to get ready on the flight to Germany.

()()()()()

The plane ride was shorter than she expected, but it gave Hylda enough time to get ready.

She strapped her gun onto her thigh before lowering her dress. It was just for insurance really, if any of Loki's henchmen got in the way. She knew bullets would be useless against the Asgardian; she was relying on her powers for that. She checked over herself once. When Fury assigned her this task they never assumed it would take place at a gala. Luckily Pepper had taken her to enough fancy events that she had a few dresses that could pass. The one she chose wasn't anything too special. It was a cream colored halter dress with an open back. It was hugged her body without being too tight and went all the way to the floor. It was a sweetheart top, with a little bit of beading under her breasts. She had curled her hair slightly and put on some silver jewelry and light make up. The event was a high class one and Hylda had to look the part. That wasn't her only motive however. As sick as it was, she wanted to look good when she saw Loki. She told herself this was only to prove that she had moved on, and was still strong without him.

She grabbed her small black clutch and exited the small room she had occupied on the plane. Along with the gun on her thigh, she had extra ammo and a small knife in her purse. Lifting a hand to her chest, she felt for her secret weapon. She could feel a small cylindrical object beneath the beading of her gown. It was just an escape plan, if she panicked and found herself in a tight situation. Hylda hoped she wouldn't have to use it. The plane had just landed in Germany, and she could feel her nerves settling in. She wanted to treat this like any other mission, but she knew it wasn't. _He _was involved, and nothing was easy when it came to him. She was grateful that Rogers and Natasha would be standing by should anything go wrong.

_You can do this_ she told herself as she exited the aircraft. _Either get him to stand down, or take him out. End of story._

Hylda's thoughts were cut off as she approached the building. Her jaw dropped as she entered the gala. The outside of the building was nice, but the inside was stunning. Everything was white marble; the stairs, the floor, the walls. The ceiling was tall with a stained glass roof. The room was filled with all kinds of people. They made a swarm of colors as they walked around the room and greeted each other. The air was filled with expensive yet pleasant perfumes. The sound of violins rang out just over the soft chatter. Shrugging off her long black coat she handed it to the man by the door. He smiled at her as he took it, holding his arm out to the room. Hylda returned the smile and continued forward. She moved through the crowd, smiling at people she pretended to know.

Hylda made her way to a large table in the center of the room. On either side was large bull's heads that were carved out of marble and slightly cracked. The marble slab in the center was a shiny caramel color. A waiter came over and offered her a glass of Champaign, which she took gladly. She surveyed the room, trying to find the face she was dreading to see. She should have known he would come to her.

"My, my, don't you look _ravishing_" a voice cooed behind her. A familiar shiver ran up Hylda's spine. Long fingers brushed against her shoulder and trailed down her arm. She turned around as his fingers wrapped around her hand. There he was in the flesh. He looked so different, yet was still the same man that made her speechless. It was odd seeing him in the clothing of Midgard. He wore a black suit, with a deep emerald scarf hanging off his neck. Of course he pulled it off and looked just as handsome as ever. It wasn't just the clothing, his appearance had changed greatly too. His hair was a little longer, just brushing his slender shoulders. His skin was slightly paler, and his eyes a little more sunken. The green orbs that she had loved were dull and emotionless, yet Hylda could see the smallest glimpse of that familiar spark buried deep inside them. Despite all that, he was still gorgeous. He still had his arrogant air about him, his confidence, and his impeccable drive. Loki smirked at her as he brought her hand to his mouth and brushed his lips along her knuckles. Hylda's face became hot and her mouth dry. _No _she told herself, _remember what he did. He used you, he hurt Thor and the others, and he threatened Asgard. Now he's threatening your new home._

Hylda narrowed her eyes, attempting to ignore the amused twinkle in his green ones. She tried to pull her hand out of his grasp but his grip tightened, a toothy grin on his face. He turned her hand in his, brushing her palm against his cheek. "Come now, my rose. We both know you're happy to see me."

"Confident as always I see" Hylda scoffed. His chuckle sent a another shiver down her spine.

"Still feisty my dear" he purred. "Come, let's talk someone in private. I'm sure the lovely Director has eyes all over this place."

Before she could reply Loki pulled her towards him. He led her away from the crowd and up the nearby stairs, all the while her hand in his. Hylda's mind raced. She wanted to yell at Loki, to blast him all the way back into space. Another part of her wanted to grab him and never let go. She knew what Fury told her to do, either convince Loki to stand down (which they both knew was unlikely) or neutralize him before he could cause harm. Something told Hylda that that was easier said than done. Loki was still a God and a genius with magic. The goddess was talented, more so in magic now than before, but she doubted she could overpower Loki. She had to think of a way. She decided that she should at least try to talk some sense into him. He had been lost in the void for such a long time, she had to make him see that he wasn't thinking straight.

He led her to a dimly light balcony overlooking the main room. The soft chatter could no longer be heard, only the singing of the violins. Hylda slipped her hand out of Loki's and rested them on the railing. A feeling of nostalgia and longing spread through her.

"It reminds me of Asgard a little" she whispered, without thinking. Forgetting their predicament for a moment, she wallowed in her homesickness. She heard Loki scoff beside her. "We used to have so much fun at those parties. Thor, Fandral and Volstagg would get so drunk, and we would dance until our feet hurt." She laughed lightly at the memories.

"In fact" she said, turning to the dark haired man, "I believe I got you to dance with me once. One of my greatest accomplishments." She smirked as she watched him react to her teasing. She could see him reliving the memory. "You were so offended when I asked if you even could dance."

Loki's lips turned into a smirk that matched hers. He raised an eyebrow at her. "And I believe you were quite astonished with my ability in that department."

He took a step back and held out his hand, "allow me to remind you?"

She wanted to say no, she knew she should. However she couldn't. All those feeling she had buried were coming back. It wouldn't hurt would it, to have _one_ dance? She could use the time to think about how she would neutralize Loki… Actually, dancing would put them extremely close which Hylda could use to her advantage. Plus she missed the feeling of being close to him. _No, no, no! Stop that _she growled, _he is the enemy Hylda!_

Loki's smirk widened, knowing the inner debate that was going on inside Hylda's mind. She glared at him before letting out a sigh, and then gave him her hand. He pulled her against his chest and lifting their intertwined hands up. His other arm snaked around her waist, resting his palm on her exposed lower back. Loki began to lead them into a slow dance, all the while his eyes never leaving Hylda's. They stayed like this for several minutes, gliding across the deserted floor. For the time being the outside world was lost to them both. They simply enjoyed the other's company. Loki's long fingers began to trace small circles on Hylda's lower back, sending shivers down her spine. She pressed herself closer to him instinctively. His smell was intoxicating. It was like fresh pine needles and fine wine. His dull eyes had brightened, sparkling with mischief. A look she had found herself missing.

Hylda was glad Loki was alive, she really was, she just wished that for once he wasn't trying to take over something. Part of her wished they could have a normal life. Falling in love like regular couples and grow old together… Woah, what? No, she refused to think like that again. She scolded herself mentally for using the 'L' word. Loki never loved her, and Loki would never love her. She was here to stop him, because that's what Fury wanted. It's what had to be done to save the Earth. SHEILD was her family now and she would do whatever she had to to protect them.

But what if she could stop him? Maybe if she stopped him now, before any real harm could be done, Fury would be more lenient? Before she could stop herself Hylda spoke just as the song finished.

"Don't do this."

Loki stopped their movement and stared at Hylda. He raised one thin dark eyebrow.

"Don't do this Loki" she asked again, "please."

The slightest tone of pleading in her voice caught him off guard. He looked at her with a surprised expression, which quickly turned to a grim look.

"I have to."

She shook her head. "No you don't. Please, I'll get Fury to go easy on you. You can stay on Earth, work for SHEILD. Or even go off and live a mortal life. But please Loki, do not continue down this path."

Green eyes narrowed into slits as Loki scowled at the goddess. "Why do you care? What does my life mean to you?" His voice became louder. "How long did you morn my death? Or did you flee to this filthy realm right away!"

"Do not act self-righteous with me Laufeyson! I died that day…" Hylda tried to pull away from his grasp. "What does it matter, you never truly cared for me anyways."

Loki's grim expression turned into a large smirk. He pressed his warm palm against her back and pulled her close again. "Oh my sweet rose, is that what the led you to believe?" He released the hand he'd been using to hold hers and brought it to her face. He cupped her cheek, "my dear Hylda, you are the reason I'm doing this."

Before she could respond, Loki's lips were on hers. It was just like she remembered. His lips were soft and fit perfectly against hers. He kissed her with passion, and Hylda could feel the yearning behind it. He had missed her. Loki pulled back for a moment, just to see Hylda's reaction. He seemed pleased with her dazed state and dove for her lips once more. Without realizing that they had moved, Hylda felt her back press up against a chilly wall. The cold and the shock made her gasp slightly, and Loki took that as his moment to dart his tongue into her mouth. Her hand found his dark locks and buried themselves in them. It felt odd now that his hair was longer, but she enjoyed it. He cupped her face in his hands as he kissed her harder. A soft moan escaped Hylda's lips and she felt Loki smirk. Loki ran one hand down her body, relishing the familiar curves. He slipped it over her butt and down her thigh, then hoisted her leg around his waist. As he pressed against her Hylda tiled her head back. She brought her lips back to his neck and began to kiss her way upwards.

Loki's hand slipped under her dress and ran up her bare thigh. He groaned, loving how soft her skin felt against his calloused hands. Long fingers brushed along a leather strap, and the god let out a chuckle.

"Really, my rose… do you expect bullets to deter me?" he whispered in her ear. She rolled her eyes as his mocking tone.

"It wasn't for you" she mumbled as she kissed under his ear. She heard Loki let out a moan as she nipped at his neck. "It was just in case you brought friends."

Nimble fingers undid the strap in no time and flung it across the room. "No one will be interrupting us, my dear."

Hylda's sense began to come back to her as the gun clattered on the marble floor. What the hell was she doing?! But just as quickly as it came, it left again as Loki attacked her neck. Her mind became foggy as she got lost in Loki's power over her. She brought her hands under his jacket and slid it off his shoulders. He chuckled against her skin and discarded the garment behind him before bring his lips roughly to hers. Hylda held him close, pulling him to her by the collar of his shirt. He ground his pelvis into hers earning a gasp from the brunette woman. Before anything else could happen, a buzzing went off from Loki's pant pocket.

The god pulled back and frowned, clearly not happy about being interrupted. This gave Hylda's rational side time to recover and realize the situation she was in. Her mind raced as she reached between her breasts for the needle that was hidden in her dress. Hylda's hand snapped to Loki's neck, but he caught her wrists just as the tip was millimeters from his skin.

"Now darling, is that anyway to treat the man you love?" he purred.

"I do not love you" she growled back.

Loki leaned forward, "then why were you about to let me have my way with you. I thought your path followed mine, darling?"

"I was foolish."

"No, now you are being foolish." Loki's face darkened. "I have told you many times Hylda, _you belong to_ _me_."

A smirk spread across his lips, "However I cannot have you meddling in tonight's plans. Trust me when I say that you _will_ be with me once more." Loki let go of Hylda's leg as a golden scepter materialized in his hand. Hylda had no time to react as he placed the glowing blue crystal against her head. Her wrist started to burn again and her vision began to blur. Loki leaned forward to whisper in her ear.

"Remember my rose; I did this all for you."

And her world went black.

()()()()()()

Loki lowered Hylda's unconscious body to the floor, laying her gently down. He brushed a few stray strands of hair out of her face before leaning over and placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. He really had missed her. He was also pleased that her feelings were the same. She would be his either way, but it made things easier knowing that he didn't have to win her heart over again. All he had to do was remind her who it belonged too. The device in his pocket buzzed again. This reminded him of the task at hand. Soon the Earth would be his and so would Hylda. With one last look at the woman on the ground he stood up and walked over to his jacket. He slipped it on, along with the emerald scarf, and twirled the staff around in his hand.

Smiling to himself, Loki looked over at the room below and saw his target. With a spring in his step he made his way downstairs.

It was show time.

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**SO What did you think of their reunion? Review and let me know!**

**Think Loki still has feelings for Hylda, or does he just want power and a bed buddy ;) aha**

**Did he ever have true feelings for her?**

**Reviews make me write fasterrrr!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I only own what you don't recognize. Everything else belongs to their rightful owners!**

**A big thanks to everyone who followed and fav'ed the story or myself! Much love to Kathalla, PlaguingYourDreams, ScarletNight7, and DDenisa for your reviews!**

**On to the next chapter! :)**

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A burst of energy hit Loki, sending him flying backwards. He landed against the cold cement steps with a crunch, his helmet banging against the ground. Groaning as he sat up, Loki saw a figure clad in red and gold metal fly towards him. _Ahh _he mused to himself, _this must be the man of iron that Barton mentioned. _ He glared at the man as he landed in front of the god. As he stretched out an arm towards Loki, glowing blue missiles extended around his arm. They all were aimed at the Asgardian. He instinctively reached for his scepter, but it was just inches out of his reach.

"Make your move, Reindeer Games" a mechanical voice called from the suit.

While the fight had been fun, it was time for Loki to continue with his plans. The Solider came to stand by the metal man, looking confident. Loki tried to hold back his sneer. The man thought he had won, but in truth they were just playing into his hands. _Foolish mortals _he scoffed. Raising his hands in false defeat, the god disbanded his battle armor. The metal man lowered his arms, the weapons retracting.

"Good move" he said in a mocking tone.

After a moment of silence the Solider spoke. "Mr. Stark" he greeted.

"Captain" Stark replied.

Stark went to move forward to grab Loki, but the Solider grabbed his arm. "Wait" he said, before turning on the communicator in his helmet. "Agent Romanoff has Agent Hylda checked in with you?" It was silent on the ground as the Solider got his answer. His face morphed into a scowl as he turned his attention to the god. "Where's Agent Hylda?"

Loki was surprised when the metal head snapped sharply to look at the Solider, before back at him. "We know she came to try to reason with you, but she hasn't reported back."

The Asgardian could help his lips from tugging upwards as he thought back to Hylda's _reasoning_ with him. It had been so long since he had tasted her lips, or held her in his arms. Seeing Loki trying to hold back a smirk seemed to anger the metal man, and he took a large step forward.

"Where is she?" he snapped, looming over Loki.

Green eyes narrowed as Loki glared at the man. He didn't like Stark's sudden protectiveness over Hylda. What could she have meant to him for him to be so concerned with her whereabouts? Loki's distain for the man grew when Stark grabbed him roughly by the arms and hauled him up.

"I'll ask again, where is Hylda?"

Loki didn't want to tell him anything. After his _meeting_ with Hylda, Loki had ordered Barton and the others to retrieve the woman after the commotion had died down and he had been taken to SHEILD. He didn't want Hylda to be in the middle of it when the situation got dangerous. He didn't want her hurt, or worse he didn't want her to have her mind corrupted and turned against him. That would make the situation so unnecessarily messy. Hylda was his and she would be by his side while he ruled this planet, one way or another. Stark's tightening grip brought Loki out of his thoughts.

"Inside" the god growled, hoping that Barton got to her already.

Stark released the god and roughly shoved him towards the building. "Show us" he growled back.

Loki turned and slowly walking to the building as the two men followed, the Solider picking up the scepter on his way. He hated that he had to put up with this treatment. He was a god, a _king_, but he needed to get into SHEILD and he couldn't do so if he were dead. Granted he could just get in by his own means, but his revenge would be all the more sweet when they realize that they played right into his hands. As he walked up the stairs to the balcony, he was disappointed to see Hylda still lying where he'd left her. Loki felt his anger grow at Barton's incompetence, but it was soon depleted as he was drawn in by Hylda. She truly was beautiful. Her pale skin shone in the dim lights of the room and her hair was sprawled around her head like a crown. She would be such a marvelous queen. Her gown was also lovely, hugging her body in such a way that Loki had to bite his lip to fight off the imagines that bubbled in his mind. It was a shame he'd only taken her once, but he planned to change that once the earth was his. He was standing over her now and was compelled to lean down and stroke her cheek, but just as his fingers were inches from her soft skin he was yanked back.

"Don't touch her" Stark hissed, pushing the god further back and into the Solider. The man in blue grabbed Loki's arms and pinned them back.

Loki felt his blood boil as Stark knelt beside Hylda and brushed a metal-clad knuckle against her cheek. The man then smoothed some hair back and out of the woman's face, whispering her name gently. When she made no noise or movement, Stark's head snapped to the dark haired god.

"What did you do to her?" he said in a dangerously low voice.

Loki wanted to shout at him, tell him that it was none of his business what he did with _his _queen. He wanted to tell him that Hylda was his and that he should keep his dirty metal hands off such a beautiful creature. This metal man had no right to question a god like Loki. He was his superior, his future king. However if Loki didn't move along with his plan soon there would be some complications from his 'friends' waiting for the cube. Yes, Loki had to keep his mouth shut just this once.

"Nothing" the god spat back.

Any argument was halted by the Soldier's voice. "C'mon Stark, we've got to get him back. Grab her and let's go. You can look her over on the plane ride back."

Look her over? Loki's lips pulled back over his teeth into a snarl. NO ONE would be 'looking over' what was HIS. If this metal man laid one finger on Hylda's flesh Loki would kill him. The goddess was his, and Loki was not known for his ability to share. The anger intensified tenfold when the man hoisted the unconscious goddess into his arms. Loki felt like a rabid animal, ready to bit and claw his way out of his restrains to attack the red suited man. _How dare he! _Who did he think he was, brushing her hair back and holding her close?! Loki swore in that moment to destroy Stark. He was doing this all for Hylda, to create a world where they could belong and rule as they deserved to. Who was this man, to try and take her from him?! Green eyes never left the goddess and the man in the metal suit as Loki was guided back out of the building and into the plane.

Once they were inside Loki was shoved on a bench, and Hylda was placed gently across from him. After ensure she was comfortably situated, Stark straightened and retraced his mask. The red and gold metal peeled back to reveal a worn and tired face. He had a full head of dark hair and a matching goatee. As he turned to face Loki, he narrowed his dark eyes at the god before walking over to the Solider. The other man also had taken off his helmet, his blonde haired and blue eyed appearance the complete opposite to Stark's. They both spoke to the redheaded woman at the front of the plane. Loki paid no more attention to the mortals, drawing his eyes over the sleeping form across from him. His green eyes never left her.

()()()()()()

"What's your secret, Pilates?"

As Hylda came to, she heard Tony's voice. Where was she? And what was Tony doing there? Slowly the events that transpired came back to her. The gala, Loki, the kiss, him knocking her out… Where did Tony come in? Wait! Loki kissed her then knocked her out, that bastard. His words echoed in her mind. _I have told you many times Hylda, you belong to me_… _Trust me when I say that you will be with me once more._ Her eyebrows furrowed. How dare he think that she was some object to be possessed! Tony's voice reminded her that she needed to open her eyes and see where she was.

"You might have missed some things, you know, doing time as a Cap-cicle."

"Hasn't Pepper told you about playing nice, Stark?" she teased, groggily sitting up. She blinked a couple times to adjust her vision before staring up at the two men. "Captain Rogers, good to see you."

Her smile faded when she saw the two men's eyes snap from her to something beside her. She turned, eyes widening at the person sitting across from her. The God of Mischief smirked at her, pleased by the speechless effect he had on her. She glared at him, but that only made his smirk wider. The pair stared at each other, trying to unnerve the other. They were oblivious to the others when they stared talking again. After a couple minutes Hylda broke their gaze and turned towards Tony.

"Tony, why are you here?" Hylda asked, attempting to stand up. The plan gave a small jolt, combined with her unsteady legs, causing the goddess to stumble. Tony lunged forward and caught her then lowered her onto the bench again.

"Easy there Spitfire" he laughed, arms still wrapped around her. Hylda laughed and shoved Tony playfully, muttering about not being weak. When she turned back to the other Asgardian she saw that his green eyes were narrowed into slits and fixed on Tony. The plane gave another jolt as Natasha mumbled something from the cockpit. Lightning light up the plane as thunder cracked through the air and Hylda noticed Loki tense. She wasn't the only one.

"What's the matter" Cap scoffed, "afraid of a little lightning?"

Loki rolled his eyes before tensing again. "I'm not overly fond of what followed" he replied, looking out the front of the plane.

Hylda shot Loki a look, feeling slightly sorry for the man. She knew what the storm reminded him of. It was a reminded about his life on Asgard. Of Thor and being betrayed by his family, of how much he despised being in Thor's shadow. The plane shuttered and dipped slightly, causing it's patrons to look around franticly. The woman was surprised when Tony put on his helmet and opened the back of the aircraft. Cap grabbed Hylda and pulled her behind him, shielding her from the harsh winds of the storm. She saw the dislike in Loki's face at seeing the Captain grab her, and she couldn't help the smallest sensation of butterflies in her stomach.

"What are you doing?!" she heard Rogers call out over the winds. Before Tony could answer, a figure landed on the edge of the opened hatch. Hylda stepped out from behind the Captain and her breath hitched as she looked at her old friend. Before she could form any words to stop him the God of Thunder launched his hammer into Tony and sent him flying backwards into Cap. He then lunged forwards and grabbed Loki, pulling him up and fixing him with a hard glare. As the blond turned to leave, Loki looked back to Hylda. His wide green eyes were filled with shock and frustration, and Hylda could tell this was not part of his plan. Thor yanked Loki forwards and the two gods flew from the plane. Hylda looked over her shoulder at Natasha and they shared a bewildered look.

"Now there's that guy" Tony grumbled, standing up.

"Another Asgardian?" Natasha asked, looking over to Hylda. The goddess nodded.

"It that guy a friendly?" she heard Rogers asked.

Before she could answer him Tony spoke. "Doesn't matter. If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract's lost."

"Stark, we need a plan of attack!" Cap tried to reason with him as the man walked to the back of the plane.

"I have a plan" Tony said over his shoulder, "attack." Without another word Tony flew off after the brothers.

Hylda's eyes widened as she saw Rogers reaching for a parachute. "No Rogers, don't!" she called, "Trust me, just stay out of this!" She didn't know why or how Thor was here, but it couldn't be for a friendly visit. Not to mention that between the three Asgardians, none of them were really on good terms with each other.

"I'd listen to her and sit this one out Cap" Natasha said from the front, never the less turning the plane around. She continued when he wouldn't listen. "These guys come from legend, they're practically gods."

"There's only one god ma'am, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that."

Hylda couldn't help but laugh slightly at Rogers' comment. Natasha looked at her with a raised eyebrow, seeing how she'd react to the comment. Rogers saw the exchange and seemed to piece together that Hylda was from the same place as the so called 'gods' and his eyes widened. He looked at her with a guilty expression, and opened his mouth to apologize. She laughed and waved him off.

"Don't worry Cap" she said, walking with him to the open bay doors.

He suddenly grabbed her elbow and pulled her back. "I don't think that's a good idea, ma'am." Hylda knotted her eyebrows at the Captain. "Loki knocked you out once" he continued, "and we don't know whether this new guy is friend or foe. Plus, you just woke up and you don't want to put unnecessary strain on your system. You should stay onboard."

She was about to argue, when Natasha agreed with Cap, from her seat at the front. Deciding that they did have a point, and then she was slightly apprehensive to see Thor, Hylda nodded and stepped back.

"Go do your thing Cap."

* * *

**What did you guys think of the Loki section? Possessive and jealous Loki ftw?**

**Review and let me know what you guys think of the chapter and the story so far! :)**


	6. AUTHORS NOTE

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: (this note is the same for **_**ONE MORE NIGHT **_**and **_**ALL THIS AND HEAVEN TOO)**_

Hello my lovely readers!

Fear not, this isn't a bad author's note.

So it's been brought to my attention that it's probably about time I got a beta read for my stories. The reason I haven't had one up till now was because when I first started writing my stories I was embarrassed to let anyone read them because I feared they'd tell me they were shit. You'd think having someone look over them would fix their 'shittiness' but my good ol'brain didn't think that way.

So now that I can assume at least a few people like my stuff (you wonderful people), I've decided maybe it's time I got a beta reader.

On to the purpose of this note…

To find a beta reader I turn to you, my fantastic and loyal readers, because I have no idea how to get one. If you **a**)** want to be my beta reader **or **b) know of a way I can obtain a wonderful beta reader**please PM me :)

So that's it, that's all this note was for. I will keep writing and posting, beta reader or not, so don't worry. I'm also sorry if I got you excited because you thought this was another chapter, or scared you because you thought I was bearing bad news.

Once again THANK YOU ALL for being wonderful and reading, reviewing, and just generally being a fan of my work.

Much love!


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I own only my original characters.**

**So let me apologize for the late update. I recently got another job so I've been crazy busy. Plus preparing for the holidays and getting gifts and what not. Thank you all for being so patient!**

**Also a big thanks to everyone who reviewed, favourited, and followed.**

**You guys are amazing :)**

* * *

Hylda went to her quarters once they arrived back on the Helicarrier. All she wanted to do was shower and wash away the feeling of Loki's hands on her body. She didn't want to admit it, but she relished the feeling. His lips, his hands, his voice… he still had a hold over her. And that was something she couldn't have. Hylda stepped into the shower, turning the water on a little hotter than normal. She let the water scorch down her body as she scrubbed roughly at her skin. After all this time, after telling herself over and over that what happened with Loki was a mistake, she still succumbed to him. All he had to do was walk back into her life and she started doubting herself again. The life she'd worked so hard for was hanging in the balance. He used his sweet words and beautiful promises. She never wanted a luxurious life style, but what girl didn't like being told they could be a princess? Standing beside a powerful king such as Loki, a man as skilled as he was handsome… _Stop it _she growled to herself, _he's the reason you had to leave your home. _Soon, her skin was an angry red due to the hot water and her violent scrubbing. She tried to relax her tense muscles and calm her mind. She closed her eyes and stood under the hot stream, letting her mind wander. For the first time in a while Hylda thought back to Asgard…

_Hylda stood in her room and looked around. It was just like she remembered it. Her heart sank, fond memories resurfacing. She could almost see Sif bustling around the room, fretting about Hylda's attire for some ball or whatnot. Or pestering her about Fandral's feelings… A sigh escaped her lips at the thoughts of her old friends, and her old life. She would have been so much safer with Fandral. The blonde never tried to take over the realm, never destroyed other worlds. But no Hylda fell for a darker god, in both personality and features. Hylda walked around the room and let her fingers graze the soft silk of her bed sheets and the fabric of her old drapes. Walking out onto her balcony, she let the warm light wash over her face. Just as she was enjoy the feeling it suddenly got cold. She opened her eyes to see that it had become night time. A shiver ran up her spin as a cold wind swept through. The sound of a large door being slammed echoed through the night. Looking across the ground in front of her, she saw a dark figure crossing the courtyard. It spun around and struck the pillar behind it. The familiarity of the scene final clicked and Hylda realized that this was the night she met Loki after Thor's banishment._

_Loki turned to sit on the steps, when suddenly he paused. Slowly, he turned to look up at Hylda. The goddess was paralyzed under his green eyes._

_Then he was gone._

_Hylda leaned over the banister and tried to see where the man went. This wasn't how she remembered the evening. When she straightened, she felt a warm breath brush over her neck. Her eyes widened, but she knew who it was without looking back. Warm hands ran up her arms before resting just below her shoulders. His touch inflamed her skin and Hylda unconsciously arched her back, letting her head graze his strong shoulder. There was a deep chuckle beside her ear. Loki nuzzled into her neck, kissing it lightly. As she looked forward the scene before her began to morph, fading from her old home to her new one. Looking over the balcony she saw Manhattan, the view identical to that of her apartment window. The peaceful sight only lasted for a moment. Just like in her previous dream, the buildings began to crumble. Loki's grip became tighter as his ministrations became rougher. As he began to bite and suck on the soft flesh as his hands became cold. Hylda wanted to pull away but she couldn't get her body to comply._

_Hylda reached out for her city, but just as her fingers stretched as far as they could the building across from her exploded. She pulled back in shock and sent a large piece of rubble into another building. Every move she made caused more and more destruction. Tears brimmed in her eyes. _

"_You will destroy this place" Loki whispered in her ear. "Earth's fall is all because of you."_

_Screams of anguish erupted from below, suffocating Hylda. The goddess tried to take a deep breath but found she couldn't. She gasped for air as Loki's icy grip got painfully tight. His laugh rang out, before he spun her around and released her. As her eyes met his she felt her skin start to burn. She gripped her stomach as a sharp pain radiated through her abdomen. Hylda tried to stagger backwards but Loki snatched her wrist and pulled her closer. He tilted her chin up and placed a chaste kiss on her lips as they gaped for oxygen._

"_Soon, my dear" he whispered with a smirk, "and it will be all ours."_

_He released her arm and Hylda fell back over the railing. She shut her eyes and opened her mouth to scream but no sound came out. Or maybe something did, she couldn't tell over the screams of the city. The woman waited for the sickening crunch of her body hitting the ground but it never came. Open her eyes, she saw Loki standing over the railing, his hand extended to her. She went to reach up for it, but something else caught her attention. A white feather fluttered through the air and passed their hands… then another… and another. Soon Hylda found herself surrounded by white feathers. The city around her faded to white and the screams dissolved into silence. Loki leaned over and grabbed her wrist, his lips upturned into a snarl. He tried to pull her up but something else pulled Hylda downwards. The God of Mischief's grip tightened, refusing to let the invisible force win._

_Hylda's vision started to blur, and she thought she heard Loki call her name. As she sank into unconsciousness, a pair of hollow black eyes filled her mind._

The cold shower wall hitting her warm skin woke Hylda from her stupor. She was huddled against the wall on the shower floor. She blinked and looked around, wondering when she ended up on the ground. A sharp pain drew Hylda's attention to her wrist. Long purple fingerlike bruises marked her skin. Her bracelet sat above the bruises, the blue stone seemingly glowing and pulsing between the two sparkling green gems. It made her uncomfortable, like Loki was watching her. Hylda turned her wrist over to unhook the clasp, but she couldn't find it. She rotated her wrist slowly but couldn't find any way to undo the metal cord. Come to think of it, Hylda had never attempted to take the jewelry off before nor really analyzed it. It brought back unwanted feelings so she usually just ignored it, never having the guts to actually take it off. Maybe Loki made it that way, never allowing her to take on the sign of his ownership. She would have to get Tony to look at it. The last think she wanted was for Loki to think he still had her in the palm of his hands. He did still have a slightly hold on her, but she was ready to squash that before it got worse. She'd moved on, she just had to keep reminding herself of that.

By this time the water had turned cold and Hylda realized she would be late for Fury's briefing. She stepped out of the shower, trying to ignore her odd trance and the uncomfortable feeling in her stomach. It was all in her mind, nothing more. Perhaps whatever Loki did to make her unconscious at the gala was having a small side effect. Taking a deep breath Hylda pulled out her uniform to change into. It was similar to Natasha's, a tight black one-piece with a zipper that went to mid-chest. She had two belts that crisscrossed over her hips where she kept her ammo and her backup knifes, along with a pistol strapped to her right thigh.

After drying her hair and doubling checking that her uniform was in order, Hylda left for the bridge. As she rounded the corner, she heard someone call her name and turned to see Natasha walking beside her.

"Natasha" she replied, giving her a side glance. The women walked in silence before Natasha gave a huff of frustration and pulled Hylda to the side. The goddess gave the redhead a confused look. She opened her mouth to ask Natasha what she was doing, but the other woman held up a hand to stop her.

"Look, Hylda" she began, her eyes shifting to look at anything but the brunette. "I wasn't sure up till now, but I know that story you fed Fury was a load of bullshit."

Hylda felt her body tense and her breath get caught in her throat. She said nothing, just stared at Natasha with wide eyes. Would she turn her into Fury? _Why is she telling me now? What gave it away? _The goddess wondered. The agent seemed to read her mind and continued.

"Relax, I'm not going to tell anyone. I'm the last person that should judge you for having a bad past." The woman seemed to get uncomfortable all of a sudden, and after a deep breath finally looked Hylda in the eyes. "I just wanted to say that I know what it's like to have made some shitty choices in the past and have them come back to bite you in the ass. You have friends here, friends who won't judge you based on previous actions. That being said, I'm trusting you to make the right ones this time. By what you told Fury and the evidence I found tonight, I think I have a full picture on what really happened. I know you must have your reasons, but make sure you learned from them."

Her gaze turned cold. "I won't tolerate you hurting anyone here."

Hylda wasn't sure if she should be comforted or offended by Natasha. Either way, she narrowed her eyes at the woman. There was no point in denying it. The redhead was a talented agent, she was a master of perception and deduction. "Look Natasha, I made a mistake before and I know that. If you know as much as you think you do, then why would you assume I would make it again? Do not make assumptions about me or my life." The goddess closed her eyes and let out a sigh. "But thanks all the same for your semi-kind words in the beginning."

Natasha nodded and the women continued walking to the bridge. Glancing to the side, Hylda asked the question that had been scratching at her mind. "Natasha… What gave it away?"

A smug look crossed Agent Romanoff's face.

"The way he stares at you."

When the brunette looked confused, the other woman laughed and continued.

"After getting to know you, your personality, I realized you wouldn't have left everything because you lost a friend. You're stronger than that, so there must have been more to the story. In all your time here you never once perused a romantic relationship. Even when some of the other agents showed a blatant interest you turned them away before they even got close. This led me to assume that you were heartbroken at some point. You also kept a close circle of friends, meaning you didn't want to give your trust away easily. Given the story you told Fury, I put two and two together. You didn't leave Asgard because you lost a friend. You left because you fell for the man that was going against everyone you cared about. You felt like you betrayed everyone because you didn't want to admit that your feelings were real. You'd rather believe you were being stupid."

"I _was_ being stupid" Hylda interrupted with a hiss. "Stupid, and confused"

"Not the way I see it. I saw the way he watched you on the plane ride back here. I would almost go as far as to say he was concerned when you were unconscious for half the trip." Natasha watched the Asgardian frown as she stared in front of her. Reaching out she stilled the pair. "All I'm saying Hylda is be careful. I know what it's like to have feelings for someone you shouldn't. Just don't let it affect your job."

Hylda nodded. Before she could reply to Natasha a body pushed the two women apart. A pair of wild light eyes filled her vision as two strong arms gripped her shoulders.

"Did you hear the news?" Cal hissed in excitement. "Loki is _here,_ on the Helicarrier."

"Yeah…" she replied hesitantly. She was baffled by how happy Cal was. He was talking about the man that forced them to leave their home, everything they loved, and he was happy.

"I'm going to…" he noticed Natasha staring at him strangely and lowered his voice. "I'm going to go ensure that his confinement will be enough to contain him. It was made for mere mortals so it is doubtful. Come with me."

"Sorry Cal," she said, shaking her head. "I have a meeting with Fury. I'll talk to you later okay? I got to go."

The man nodded and her with a frown on his lips and continued down the hall. Once he was out of earshot, Agent Romanoff spoke.

"I don't trust him" she said darkly.

"He's been acting weird lately, I'll admit, but he did get me here safely."

Natasha seemed satisfied with that answer and the woman continued to the bridge. Hylda had a feeling in her stomach that Cal was up to something, and she wouldn't be surprised if Loki was behind it. Perhaps he was controlling Cal the same way he was Clint. The goddess didn't have time to ponder the issue as the women had reached the bridge. Hylda suddenly remember something that made her step falter.

Natasha turned and look at her, "what?"

The brunette glared at the door. She debated in lying to Natasha, but a part of her wanted someone to tell her she was overreacting.

"Thor… I haven't seen him since I left Asgard. We said something things to each other, harsh things I know I didn't mean…"

_"Don't do this" Thor whispered._

_"I have to Thor" she whispered back, barely able to find her voice. "They hate me… Asgard hates me. Our- your friends hate me. Everyone hates me Thor." Tears began to fill her eyes. "Odin's name, even I hate me."_

_Hylda closed her eyes for a moment before she spoke again. "I've been a terrible friend Thor. I turned my back on all of you when you need me. For what? Some stupid infatuation. You of all people should be furious with me."_

_Thor took a step forward and gripped Hylda's hands in his. "I could never hate you, friend. We all make mistakes. You have stood by me through all of mine, and I will do the same for you." She tried to pull away but he held her tightly. The tears began to fall then._

_"How?" she cried. "How can you say that when your future kingdom despises me?! Your own parents probably never want to see me again. I betrayed Asgard, Thor! I allowed Loki to do whatever he pleased to my home and my friends. That cannot be so easily forgiven."_

_"We were all blinded by Loki, Hylda. No one thought he was capable of such things. My parents most likely feel sorry for you the most. They truly thought he cared for you Hylda. They thought loving you would make him see the error of his mischievous ways. They thought he would give them up for you-"_

_"HE DID NOT LOVE ME"_

_The passion in her voice startled both of them. "Please" she begged. "Please do not say he loved me, Thor. I was convenient at the time, that is all. Loki wanted someone strong beside him, I just got lucky." Hylda's gaze faltered to the ground again. "He did not love me. He is not capable, for Loki did not even love himself. If he did, then I would easily love him back. However he did not, so I cannot."_

_Thor looked like he wanted to argue, but the sad goddess in front of him was enough to make him hold his tongue. "Give them time" he pleaded. "Loki's troubles are still fresh in everyone's minds. Give them time to see things rationally."_

_Hylda gave a sad chuckle. "I never thought I would live to see Thor Odinson speak of rationality." The pair smiled for a split second, before returning to their frowns. Hylda slipped her hands out of Thor's larger ones and began to walk away. "I'm sorry Thor, but the answer is no."_

_"You're acting like a child" Thor shouted, "running away from your problems instead of facing them!"_

_Pink lips pulled back into a snarl as the goddess whipped around. "Like you, Odinson? Should I go into the Grande hall, weapons bared, and start shouting until I get my way? Yes, that seems like a much more mature alternative."_

_Thor opened his mouth but Hylda cut him off. Her eyes still blazed with anger as she snapped at him. "No Thor, I'm done speaking with you. Perhaps I am acting childish, but you would know wouldn't you? Perhaps I am just following in the footsteps of the next King of Asgard, hmm? You, Thor Odinson¸ are the most childish man I know. Do you want to know why I chose to run away like a scared child? I cannot face my mistakes because I am too ashamed that I made them. Life may have started out hard, but I have been given everything ever since. I was foolish enough to fall back into self-loathing as soon as someone like myself came along. I felt connected to Loki because I knew what it was like to feel like a monster. I knew what it felt like to not have other kids want to play with you. But that's the point… kids. This is the notion of a child, one I willingly bought into because it came with sweet words and an attractive face. I gave up everything, including my adulthood, to pursue the life of a child. One who feels left out and alone. I forgot that I had grown past that. So yes Thor, I am acting like a child. A feeling I am sure you are quite familiar with."_

The redhead's eyes were wide when the Asgardian finished explaining her last altercation with Thor.

"Yikes" the agent whispered. She placed a hand on the other woman's shoulder. "Well, I'm going to head in. Take your time. I'll cover for you if you're a little late."

"Thanks Natasha."

The redhead gave a small smile. "No problem."

Hylda took a step to the side as the doors opened and Agent Romanoff walked onto the bridge. She brought a hand up to her mouth and chewed lightly on her thumb. Facing Thor meant facing all the problems she'd fled from on Asgard. She wasn't sure she could bring herself to do that.

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**Next Chapter: Thor and Hylda's reunion! How will it go? Will they both forgive and move on, or is SHEILD about to witness another fight of godlike proportion?**

**Review and let me know what you guys think!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone! :D**

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**DecadentGrrrl: Who wouldn't give in to Loki? Lol but Hylda's a fighter so she can't give up that easily… yet ;)**

**GG4520: I'm so glad!**

**ScarletNight7: I'm happy you enjoy it :)**

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Hylda was starting to wish she took a longer shower. Perhaps getting chewed out by Fury would be a sweeter fate than having to face her old friend. She knew no matter how long she stood outside the bridge doors, the situation wasn't going to change. Had the others mentioned her to Thor? She wondered if he scoffed at her name, or fixed them with a cold glare. Had she not been stealthy enough in sneaking to her room without him seeing? Those were some of the many questions that flew around the woman's mind. The most prominent being 'would he be happy to see her?' The goddess would never know if she didn't face him, and part of her was okay with that. However, a larger part wanted closure. If Thor was going to hate her so be it. She knew she deserved it. Taking a deep breath, Hylda stepped forward.

The automated doors swooshed open for her, the noises of the bridge seeping out. Machines beeps, fingers typed, and voices spoke in hushed tones. The buzz of them room seemed to die down as her eyes landed on the other Asgardian. Hylda saw his large figure leaning over the railing on the opposite side of the room. As if he could sense he presence, blue eyes turned from the window to settle on the brunette. The noises seemed to stop then. Their gaze never faltered. They stared at each other, both unsure how to act. Icy blue ensnared steel grey. Hylda wasn't sure if the entire bridge had turned to stare at her, but it sure felt like it. The people who were seated at the table stopped their conversation and stared at the pair. Natasha and Bruce eyed the part cautiously. They both knew what happened to that small town in the south. Rogers' eyes were wide at the sudden tension in the room. It felt like every Midgardian held their breath, waiting for a recap of the last time two Asgardians fought on Earth. As the thick tension settled in the space, Hylda seemed to lose control of her body. She wanted to turn around and run back to her room like the coward she was, but her body wouldn't comply. Her legs unconsciously carried her to the table. Thor took a step forward so they were only meters apart. Blue eyes never left grey.

Now that they were so close, both seemed at a loss for what to do. Seconds ticked by as the two racked their brains for the right words to say. What could one say to a friend they lost long ago?

"Thor" the goddess managed to whisper.

"Hylda" he replied, just as quietly.

"You look well." _What? Am I really making small talk?_

"As do you" was his response. There was a pause, and then Thor cleared his throat nervously. "They miss you, you know" he began. His voice was so lower Hylda could barely hear him. "We all do. Fandral, Sif, even my parents. We never wished for you to leave us, Hylda. We understand that everyone makes mistakes."

All the woman could do was nod. She didn't trust her voice.

"We never blamed you-"

Hylda held up her hand. She couldn't let him continue. Her eyes started to burn as she spoke. "You owe me no apology Odinson. I was foolish. On top of everything, to you especially. I said things, terrible things that I didn't mean to you before I cowardly ran away-"

Thor stepped forward and grasped Hylda's hands in his. "You could never be a coward, friend. You were scared and felt alone. Did I not say hurtful words as well? You are not the only one who acted rashly."

Hylda couldn't help the tears that slipped through her lashes. "How can you say that?"

She lowered her voice as she continued. "All of Asgard should hate me. I could have stopped him Thor, but I didn't. I sat by and let him do what he wanted to my friends and home. He let you get banished; he tried to kill you and the others… I-I should be begging for your forgiveness on bended knee.

Thor moved his hands to cup her face. "You should never beg, Hylda, least of all to me."

Strong arms pulled the smaller woman against a firm chest. The two Asgardians embraced each other without a care. Hylda missed the small smile the others shot their way. While Bruce and Steve were glad a fight didn't happen, Natasha knew how happy Hylda was that Thor forgave her. She was surprised when the goddess told her about the fight she'd had with Thor. It seemed out of character for the woman she knew, but she assumed it was just her emotional state that caused her to react that way.

Hylda pulled away and looked up at Thor with watery eyes. "I've missed you all so much. I love it here, but it's not Asgard."

"Trust me, we all miss you too" Thor smiled back.

"The prisoner Loki is almost to the cell" an agent called from the front of the bridge.

Thor felt Hylda tense in his arms slightly at his brother's name. The God of Thunder's blue eyes searched Hylda's grey ones. His smile faltered and a questioning looking washed over the man's face. He silently asked Hylda they question she didn't want to answer. The woman glared back with less fire than she wanted. Blue bore into grey. He read her like a book. She couldn't lie to Thor. To herself, yes; but something about the ferocity in his eyes hindered her in telling him anything but the truth. Her eyes softened and she looked to the floor.

"I wish I didn't" she mumbled.

The God of Thunder tilted her chin up. His eyes held a merriment that she did not expect to see. "Then there is still hope for him, Hylda."

"Thor, he is passed saving. You would have a better chance than I. He's your brother after all."

Thor shook his head. "He resents my parents and I. He cares for you Hylda." He paused, eyes darting to the others at the table as their screens beeped. "We will discuss this later." He whispered quietly. The pair walked closer and glanced at the computers embedded in the metal table. Loki was being escorted into a large container with Fury standing watch. The Director explained what would happen if Loki caused any problems or tried escaping. The ground under the cell opened, showing the dark night sky. Loki glanced downwards for a moment before stepping backwards. Then, he laughed.

"It's an impressive cage" he chuckled, "not built, I think, for me."

Hylda bit her lip, trying to hold back a small smile. He was always so cocky. Despite that one night, the night he fell, Hylda had never seen Loki shaken or scared. Even when he was captured by his foes, the god still held his head high. But then again, if Loki was caught it was because he wanted to be. He was too skilled to be captured otherwise. No matter what situation he was in, Loki always had faith in his abilities. She'd be lying if she said that she didn't find it to be an attractive quality.

"Built for something a lot strong than you" Fury countered gruffly.

It didn't deter the God of Mischief. "Oh I've heard" he smirked. "A mindless beast, who pretends he's still a man." He looked directly at the camera. Out of the corner of her eyes, Hylda could see Banner shift uncomfortably under Loki's gaze. How he could affect people by merely looking at them through a camera was beyond her. She frowned at his words however. What right did he have to call Bruce such things? Did he not once say that he was a monster? He was more alike to Dr. Banner than he realized. "How desperate are you?" he continued. "You call on such lost creatures to defend you."

Hylda wondered if anyone else could sense the amusement in his voice. Loki was just toying with the Director. SHEILD thought they were in control, but Loki was always in control.

"How desperate am I?" Fury growled back. "You threaten my world with war, you steal a force you cannot hope to control, you talk about peace and you kill cause it's fun."

Loki laughed loudly. "Are you really that foolish? Do I seem like a man without a purpose? I assure you Director; everything I do is because I deem it necessary to achieve what I want." He turned to the camera once more. This time his eyes bore into Hylda's. She felt her skin begin to burn under his stare. "And I _always _get what I want."

The god turned back to Fury. "Can you say the same? Would you do everything in your power to reach your goal? Sacrifice everything and everyone? Break every rule that confines you. Is the Tesseract and its power worth that much to you? Would you be willing to give up everything for it?" When Fury didn't answer, Loki continued. "Just as I thought. You're weak, Director. A mere man playing his part in the world. Do you really think you could wield a power such as the Tesseract? It takes more than a man to control something like that. It takes a god. So I ask you again, _how desperate are you?_"

The ferocity in Loki's voice started Hylda. She was once again reminded of all he went through. Always living in Thor's shadow and trying to prove himself, finding out his true birthright was that of the creatures his home hated. The memory of Odin shutting down Loki's dreams as he hung off the Rainbow Bridge surfaced. Her heart ached for him. She tried to push down the feeling to reach out to him. _No. _She didn't care for him, not any more. Hylda noticed the smirk that tried to pull on Loki's lips. She frowned, then felt a shiver run through her. The woman felt the smallest tug on the edge of her thoughts, and she realized he was looking into her mind. Embarrassment and anger washed over her and the smirk broke out on his face. _Damn him. _The goddess tried to distract herself by watching the screen in front of her.

"You have made me _very_ desperate" Fury snapped. "You might not be glad that you did."

Fury's attempt at scaring Loki failed, just as she knew it would.

"It burns you" he cooed back, "to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power…unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share?" He smiled up at the camera again, this time at all the human's watching. Somehow he managed to direct his ominous gaze through the screen at however he chose. Loki's face darkened before turning back to the Director. "Than to be reminded what real power is."

The pair stared at each other, each burning the other with their gaze. "Well, let me know if real power wants a magazine or something" Fury mocked, before turning to leave. As he left, Loki looked to the camera again and smiled. Then the video was cut and everyone at the table let out the breath they'd been holding.

"He kind of grows on you doesn't he" Bruce said, trying to lighten the mood.

However, Steve got straight to business. "Loki's going to drag this out. So, Thor, what's his play?"

All eyes shifted to the tall god. He was staring out the window again, and didn't move his gaze when he spoke. "He has an army called the Chitauri. They aren't from Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth, in turn I suspect for the Tesseract." Thor turned to face the table.

"An army" Steve repeated, "from outer space."

The Solider glanced at Natasha, who gave him a nod. _It must be weird for Steve _Hylda mused. He was not only just learning about other realms, as SHEILD was. Rogers also was out of touch with Earth's own advancements. She could relate to him in a way, having to learn all of Earth's odd technologies herself when she first arrived. Doctor Banner's voice brought her out of her thoughts.

"So he's building another portal. That's what he needs Eric Selvic for."

"Selvic?" Thor repeated. Why did that name sound familiar?

"He's an astrophysicist" Banner explained.

"He's a friend" The god mumbled. Hylda felt her stomach drop. She remembered where she knew that name from. He was one of the humans that helped Thor when he was banished. Guilt trickled back into her veins. Thor met Selvic when he was stuck on Earth because of Loki. Selvic was now captured because of Loki. It seemed every bad thing that happened was because of Loki. All this could have been avoid if she had done something to stop the God of Mischief in the beginning.

"Loki has him under some kind of spell" Natasha added. "Along with one of ours."

Hylda's heart ached even more when she saw the pained look in the redhead's downcast eyes. Loki had Eric and Clint. The goddess chewed on her lips as the guilt ate away at her. Loki was causing so many people pain, and Hylda couldn't help but feel that she could have prevented this long ago. _Now isn't the time to sulk. You have another chance; do something with it this time._

"I want to know why Loki let us take him" Rogers asked. "He certainly isn't leading an army from here." It was a good point. Unfortunately the answer wasn't one the others were going to want.

"It's part of his plan" Hylda grumbled. All eyes turned to her. She took a deep breath, stealing a glance at the redheaded agent. Natasha raised an eyebrow at her and the goddess continued. "Loki was captured because he wanted to be. That's a bigger problem than having him running our out there."

"Can you be sure?" Natasha prodded. "Maybe he overlooked something or underestimated us."

Hylda shook her head. "Trust me, Natasha. Loki doesn't make mistakes like that."

The goddess let her eyes roam the floor as she tried to avoid meeting anyone's gaze. She could feel the suspicion wafting off the others and she began to shift uncomfortably under their stares. A large hand on her shoulder made her release the breath she'd been holding. "She is right" Thor said from beside her. "Loki is as stealthy as a shadow and more skilled with his tongue as he is with a blade. He would not make such a major miscalculation."

This seemed to satisfy the other's hesitation.

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki" Bruce added. "That guy's brain is like a bag full of cats. You can smell crazy off him."

"Watch it."

"Have care how you speak."

The two Asgardians spoke simultaneously. They looked at each other, a faint blush dusting the goddess's cheeks which Thor tried not to smile at it. Thor turned away to continue his defense of Loki, but Hylda remained quiet. She could feel Natasha's eyes on her and looked up to find the woman fixing her with an _I-told-you-so _expression. Hylda scowled back. The agent rolled her eyes.

"Loki may be beyond reason, but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother."

"He killed 80 people in two days" Natasha countered, turning her attention to Thor. The god looked at her sheepishly. "He's adopted" he offered.

"I think it's about the mechanics" Bruce said. "Iridium. What do they need the iridium for?"

"It's a stabilizing agent" Tony's voice called out. Hylda turned to see him walking onto the bridge with Phil. They were whispering to each other, Tony looked like he was trying to convince the other agent of something judging by the shy smile on Phil's face. "It means" he continued once him and Phil had parted ways, "that the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at SHEILD."

Tony walked over to the two Asgardians. "No hard feelings Point Break" he said as he pat Thor's arm, "You've got a mean swing."

Hylda let out a small snicker as Thor looked down at the dark haired man in confusion. Her laugher was short-lived however. Tony walked over to the goddess and held her chin. He gave her a look at said _we need to talk_ before letting go and patting her cheek. The older man walked over the computer screens and continued his analysis of the situation.

"Also, it means the portal can stay open as wide and as long as Loki wants…"

Hylda tuned out Tony as her mind tried to figure out the situations at hand. After the meeting was done she needed to talk to Thor, the two had a lot to catch up on as well as discuss what they could do about their fellow god. Then she had to explain herself to Tony. If what Natasha said about what happened while she was unconscious was true, and part of her really wanted it to be, Tony must have noticed Loki's demeanor too. The woman's stomach flipped nervously. It was unavoidable. After that there was one for person she had to go see.

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**What did you think of the reunion?**

**Should Hylda tell Tony the truth about her past with Loki?**

**Review and let me know how you feel about this chapter and the story so far! Reviews make me write faster ;)**


	9. Chapter 9

**First off let me apologize. I have no excuse other than life just got in the way. I had crazy writer's block then things got super hectic. I'm back now and will update steadily. Once again I'm sorry, but thank you to everyone who stuck with the story. You guys rock3**

**It's not a super long chapter. I just wanted to get it out to let you guys know I was alive.**

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"Steve, tell me none of this smells a little funky to you?"

As Hylda entered the lab the conversation stopped. Rogers, Tony and Dr. Banner turned to look at the brunette. She could sense a thick tension in the air but knew better then to ask. The three men turned to look at each other again but no one said a word. Hylda took a step further into the lab, her footfall echoing louder than normal. Rogers looked irritated, his eyes glaring at Tony as he turned to speak. "Just find the cube" he grumbled, and then turned to leave the lab. He threw Hylda polite smile as he passed her before walking through the automatic doors.

"Sorry to interrupt" she said quietly. Tony had turned his gaze towards her and stuck her with a fierce stare. Bruce seemed to notice and politely excused himself.

"I'm going to grab a tea from the kitchen, you guys want anything?" he asked. Hylda shook her head. "Coffee please," Tony replied, his eyes never leaving the woman in front of him. "Black."

"Will do."

There was silence as Bruce left the room. Hylda's eyes followed the scientist out, afraid of the fire that was burning behind Tony's eyes. The door _swooshed _shut, and the goddess felt herself gulp. She had faced many terrifying beast but none scared her more than her friend did right now. Flash backs to her friends on Asgard flew threw her mind. She saw Sif, Volstagg and Fandral. She remembered how hurt and angry they were at her, because of what she did. Hylda didn't want that to happen again. She looked back to Tony and tried to meet his gaze. After a few seconds she dropped her eyes to the floor in defeat.

"Don't give me that look Tony..." she whispered.

Tony continued to stare her down, and then let out a humorless chuckle. "It all makes sense now" he scoffed, "the whole bit about feel alone and exiled. Who wouldn't feel like that when their boyfriend tried to take over the kingdom!"

"Tony-" she tried to stop his rant, to no avail.

"No, no, I get it. All your stories... this man that 'stole your heart but in the end turned out to not be who you initially thought'... of course he wasn't, he's a psychotic murder!'

Hylda flinched at his words, "It's not like that!"

"Are you kidding me?" Tony fumed.

"I-" Hylda mouth open and closed unable to find the words she needed.

Tony looked away from the woman, shaking his head. "I thought you were smarter than this Hy. Are you out of your mind, confronting him like that?"

"What?" Hylda said, confused

"Look kiddo, I could chew you out for your obviously horrid choice in men..." Tony began.

"I didn't choose him..." she grumbled.

He continued, "Regardless, yelling at you wouldn't change anything. We can't help who we fall for. Don't get me wrong, I still think you should be check for brain damage because I don't see _HOW_ you could fall for him. You deserve someone who's not a total nut bar, but that's beside the point. Your past is your past, and I'm the last person who should chastise you for having a soiled reputation. We all make mistakes, but you did something beyond stupid today. You went one-on-one with a guy who is not only crazy, but who's crazy about you. To top things off, he's pretty cunning and powerful from what I hear. I saw the way he looked at you. He gave me a slightly murderous look when I carried you back and wouldn't take his eyes off you on the plane."

"That means nothing" Hylda retorted. She looked away from the older man and walked over to the table beside her. She picked up a random tool and fidgeted with it, hoping that Tony would drop the subject.

"It means everything!" Tony yelled, coming to her side. "Hy, he could have put you under the same spell as Barton. He could have kidnapped you. Worse, he could have killed you. And you wouldn't have stopped him…"

He snatched the tool from her hand. The goddess's eyes widened. She would too stop him! Why would she let herself be killed?! _He means you don't have the guts to fight back, _a voice in her head retorted. She would fight back, she would fight Loki… Hylda thought back to the gala. _Loki's phone went off, distracting him for a moment_. _Hylda reached between her breasts for the needle that was hidden in her dress. Her hand snapped to Loki's neck, but he caught her wrists just as the tip was millimeters from his skin. She was too slow._

No, she had plenty of time before. She just got… _Distracted._

_"Now darling, is that anyway to treat the man you love?" _Oh how she loved the way he spoke. _No, stop it! _She scolded_._

_"I do not love you" she growled back. _She didn't love him, right?

_Loki leaned forward, "then why were you about to let me have my way with you?" _That was a good question. Hylda was pulled from her thoughts by Tony clearing his throat. She looked up into his brown eyes and she could see the concern and frustration in them.

"I was doing my job" Hylda finally replied. Tony raised an eyebrow at her and placed the tool back down. "I was following Fury's orders" she explained. She turned away from Tony once again, turning around to lean her back against the table.

"So Fury knows?" The older man questioned as he mimicked her movement.

Hylda stared Tony in the eyes and debated lying, but something inside her stop herself. The goddess was tired of lying. She was tired of having to hide things from her friends. When she left Asgard, she swore to not make the same mistakes. Lying to Tony would be following the same footsteps as before.

She sighed, "not exactly. He knows everything except how close we were. I told him we were just friends."

"And he bought that load of crap?" Tony questioned. The woman glared at him, but he continued none the less. "So what did Fury ask you to do?"

She looked away from Tony as she spoke. "Try to talk to him and get him to surrender. If that didn't work then I was to incapacitate him."

"Fury must trust you a lot. Knowing you were close enough to him to persuade him yet still letting you go in alone" Tony mused.

"I guess..."

"Did you think you could get him to surrender?" he continued.

Hylda answered without thinking, "No."

"Because of what happened back home?" he pressed.

The woman shook her head. "Loki isn't one to surrender. Despite all that he is, he's always loyal and passionate to his cause." She turned to look at Tony. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you the whole truth, it's just not one of my proudest moments. When I came to Earth I promised myself I wouldn't make those same mistakes, but I didn't want people to think any less of me over what I'd done."

Tony wrapped his arm around her shoulders and gave her a sideways hug. "Don't sweat it kid; just don't do anything that stupid again."

The pair stayed like that for a few moments. The conversation had stopped and the only sound in the room was the humming machines. Tony's voice broke the silence.

"Could you get him to talk?"

Hylda looked up at the dark haired man. "What?"

He repeated his question. "Could you get him to talk? Spill the beans a bit about his plan?"

"I think Natasha was supposed to handle that" Hylda stated, "She's better at interrogation anyways."

"But you're closer to him" he countered

She seemed to consider the options before shaking her head. "He won't admit anything to me with all those cameras in the room. And to egg him on that much… I'd have to get personal. I don't really want to air all my dirty laundry for all of SHEILD to see, or rather hear. Plus, Fury doesn't know how close we were. I'm dead if he finds out. Not only did I not tell him the whole truth, like you said, considering our relationship going to the gala alone was risky."

Hylda wasn't expecting the sly smile that crept onto her friends face. She raised an eyebrow at him, throwing him a look of suspicion.

"That is where I come in" he taunted with a smug smirk. He turned to look into the empty room.

"Jarvis?" he called.

"Yessir?" a mechanical voice sounded.

"Can you access the cameras in Loki's cell?" asked Tony.

"Indeed" JARVIS replied.

The older man scratched his beard as he though. "Great, take the feed from the last... hour and loop it."

Hylda stared at Tony with wide eyes. "Did you hack into SHEILD's mainframe?" she whispered in a stunned voice.

"Maybe" Tony chuckled.

"Are you insane?!" she begged. Tony just laughed even louder. Hylda shook her head. Tony was so reckless sometimes. He was dead if Fury ever found out. Come to think of it, that was one meeting she'd actually want to be in.

"Complete" JARVIS called.

"Perfect" Tony turned to Hylda, "hurry up kiddo, you've only got an hour. Get what you can from him."

"I thought you said confronting him alone was dangerous?" she teased.

"It's fine, he's behind class. Like a lion at the zoo" Tony laughed, "or a monkey."

Hylda rolled her eyes.

"Thanks Tony." She smiled at him before pushing off the table and hurrying out the door. She quickened her pace in the halls, trying not to arouse suspicion. She didn't have a lot of time and she had to make every minute count. _It's for SHEILD _she told herself, _not for personal gain, not to talk about 'us'. It's all for SHEILD. Try to get out as much information as you can. _Hylda's little pep talk to her all the way to the cell door. She paused for a moment and took a deep breath. She could do this… She WOULD do this. Hylda would protect her home from Loki. She entered in the security code and waited as the doors slowly slide open…


	10. Chapter 10

The goddess couldn't hear anything other than her own heart beat as she entered the room. Time seemed to slow down as she stared at the man in the cage. Loki sat on the metal bench in the cell, elbows resting on his knees and hands clasped together. His long black hair poured over his neck and shoulders like dark waves. Green fabric hung off his body. He was so much skinner then Hylda remembered, and her heart ached for him. Part of her still held onto the hope that Loki had goodness in him still. _False hope, _she told herself. Hylda walked forward until she was standing before the class. Loki's eyes had remained closed, but a smirk pulled on his lips as she approached. "I wondered how long it would take for you to come to me. Did you really think you could hide?"

"I wasn't hiding" her voice was quieter then she wanted. She suddenly felt cold, and her head began to throb.

"I beg to disagree" Loki chuckled.

"Stop doing that" she hissed, trying to close her mind off from him.

The dark haired man's demeanor shifted, turning cold and angry. "Why? Do you not want me to see all the fun you've been having here on Earth? Do you even remember your old home, all your friends that you left behind? I bet they don't even cross your mind." He walked over to the glass the separated them as he pulled images to the front of her mind. She saw images of Tony and Pepper, Natasha and Clint. Suddenly old memories began to resurface. Her old friends flashed in front of her. She saw all the times they fought together, the times she'd saved them, and the times they saved her… She saw Jötunheim, the day Thor got banished. _The ground had given out underneath her making her jump lack the amount of force she need. She wasn't going to make it. No! she thought angrily, this cannot be my end. Falling through the ice like some animal on a frozen pond. I worked so hard to get here! She focused all her energy into thrusting herself forward. Her foot barely made it onto the ledge, as a smile slowly crept onto her lips. It was short lived however, as the edge of the ground started to crumble and Hylda could feel herself falling backwards. Hogun noticed her and reached his arm out to grab her through the falling rocks. She reached out for him, but before his hand could reach hers another hand landed on her arm, pulling her forward. She rushed forward hitting a hard chest before being pulled into a sprint. "Perhaps I should be named the God of Protection, hmm?" a voice chuckled beside her. Hylda turned to see Loki running beside her, a cocky smirk on his lips as he stared straight ahead. She pouted slightly as a faint pink dusted her cheeks, cocky bastard, how did he manage to save her twice..._ She wished her heart didn't skip a beat in that moment, but it did. Why! Why did her stupid heart still react to him? Loki slammed his fist against the glass as his voice brought the goddess back to reality. "You ran away from Asgard, from your problems, like a scared little child. I thought you were strong then that, Hylda."

The anger in his voice surprised Hylda, but not as much as hearing him utter her name with such distain.

"Did you even mourn for me?" he continued. "Or did you flee like the insect you are that same night?"

"I died that night!"

The woman's loud declaration caught both Asgardians off guard. Hylda's brain shut off, all reason and rationality gone. It was something else's turn to speak. _Please _she urged herself, _Don't tell him the truth._

"Don't you dare speak to me as such, Laufyson. I gave up everything for you. You caught me in your tangled web of false promises and charm, and used me to your advantage. If Sif had been as convenient, would you have ensnared her as well?" Loki opened his mouth to object but Hylda continued. She couldn't control her mouth, it spoke of its own accord and she couldn't filter the content. "I was foolish, and I drank your evil words like water. I believed in you, I believed in your cause and the goodness within you. I ached at the belittlement that was forced on you. No matter what my head told me, my heart still felt…"

Grey eyes had drifted to the floor, but they now met Loki's green ones with a fire in them. Anger coursed through her veins. She was angry at Loki for his scheming, she was angry at herself for not taking action to at the gala… she was angry at her feelings for the fallen God of Mischief, that still ran true in her heart. She wouldn't let him know that though, she would not let him exploit them for his personal gain. Her voice was strong as she spoke, challenging his powerful gaze with one of her own.

"So don't you dare talk of betrayal to me, Loki. You used me, and I stupidly believed you cared. Just as now you seek to use me again. However I will not let that happen. I have a new life, one that I will not ruin for the likes of you. I have Thor's forgiveness, so I may yet fix my old life as well. Mark my words, I will stop you. You will not have Earth."

The goddess didn't expect the dark haired man to smirk back at her. "So you haven't lost your fire" he leered, leaning his face closer to the glass. "Good."

"I'm not joking, Laufyson" the brunette frowned.

Loki laughed, "Oh I know. I hoped you still had that spark in you. Earth hasn't made you soft."

Hylda's cold grey eyes did not deter the god. "You cannot fight me, my dear."

"I can try" she growled in return.

"You're beautiful when you're angry" Loki purred.

"Stop that!"

Slamming her palm against the glass, Hylda tried to steady her breathing. "Why must you toy with me?! I refuse to be a pawn in your games, Loki. Not again. I will not be tricked. From the beginning you preyed on my emotions. Well no more, Laufeyson." No matter what the goddess knew she felt for the raven haired man, she would never admit it.

Loki's pale hand drifted over to the section of glass underneath hers, but his eyes never left her grey ones. Her raised wrist began to glow a soft blue. Hylda's eyes darted to the bracelet. It didn't hurt, like it usually did when it lit up. No, this time it was oddly soothing. A sharp pain shot through her head momentarily, before a memory began to play behind her eyes.

_She was standing in the BiFrost with Loki. The pair stood in front of a large beam made of ice, the branched out all cross the room. Hylda rested a hand against the cold trunk as Loki stood behind her, arms encasing the goddess. "Is it really necessary?" she whispered to him. "They are still people Loki." She could feel him frown at her response._

_"They are monsters" he growled. "They deserved every inch of this destruction."_

_"Perhaps that's merely an opinion" she shrugged. "I happen to be very fond of something people once considered a 'monster'."_

_She felt Loki smile against her skin. He gently kissed her ear, than trailed soft kissed down to her shoulder. His grip on her began to tighten, holding her as close as possible. Loki signed as he rested his forehead on her shoulder._

_"Out of everything I've done, everything I've earned, you are my most cherished prize" his voice was filled with such pain..._

_Hylda turned around in his arms and placed a passionate kiss on his pale lips._

Hylda remembered her thoughts in that moment. How she should have pushed him away. She should have told him never to touch her again, never speak to her again. How she should have told him that she wasn't some object to be kept. How she should have told him what a horrible person he was. She should have...

_Truth was Hylda was happier than she's ever been. She loved being held by this man, she craved for him to touch her. She loved the sound of his voice and the way he looked at her. Hylda loved Loki's possessiveness, and the way he made her feel. She didn't think he was a horrible person because she understood why he did it._

_Leaning back Hylda whispered, "I'm starting to like the cold."_

Happy…

Yes, Hylda had been happy. Loki made her happy. Coming back from her thoughts, she saw the same man smirking back at her with a flurry of emotion in his green orbs. The goddess saw his cockiness and his desire for power, but she also saw a raw sincerity in his eyes. The same look he gave her that night on the BiFrost, the same look she saw before he fell into the darkness. But she couldn't let him win. No… not again. But maybe this time she could save him. If she got him to stop, if she could get him out of this alive… Maybe then, they'd have a chance. Hylda knew she couldn't let Loki win, but perhaps she could help him after. Help him see the error of his way… rehabilitate him. However Loki was talented, and she would have to make him slip up for the others to have a chance in stopping him.

After what felt like a long and deafening silence, Loki spoke. His voice was strong and confident, but while he held a small smirk on his lips his eyes gave way to the honesty and fear behind his words

"I never tricked you, my rose" Hylda gulped at the pet name. "You must know that. From the beginning you showed me kindness, when I offered none. That is what drew me to you. Even when you found out about my true heritage, you were not swayed. You're a strong and brilliant warrior, my darling. And just like myself, you were given a powerful gift. One that makes us better than the others. You belong with me, Hylda. Nothing, and no one, will take you away from me."

A fire began to grow in his eyes, and Hylda feared what it could mean. She shook her head, refusing to look at the man. He wouldn't say it, he couldn't. Everything would become so much more difficult if he said those words, because Hylda knew they would be true. Loki never used her, she was never just a pawn. She realized that as she watched him fall, but she didn't want to admit it to herself. The goddess remembered the way he held her on the BiFrost, how he looked at her. She had seen fear in his eyes, the fear of losing her, and she knew he saw it reflected in her own eyes. After all this time… nothing had changed. All her pretending had been for nothing, because the minute Loki walked back into her life all the feelings she buried came back full force. Tears slowly began to run down her pale cheeks. She begged whatever gods would listen to her, pleading to not let Loki say the words she so desperately wanted to hear. _You have to get him to make a mistake _she told herself, _maybe then there can be hope for you._

"You must know this is all for you" Loki continued. His voice was louder now, yet still unwavering, filled with overflowing passion for his cause. "So we may thrive and rule over a realm where we will not be cast aside for our gifts. We are better, Hylda, we deserve to rein over this world. Do not be so foolish as to dismiss what happened in the past as a game. We both know why. It's the reason I saved you from the Frost Giant years ago, the reason you stood by me as King of Asgard, the reason I feared you were dead in Odin's chambers… the reason you took my old spell book with you to Midgard… They are all the same. It is for the very same that I do this now. Why I strive to create a world for us."

Hylda tried to avoid Loki's gaze, but his powerful emerald stared kept pulling her attention back.

"I love you, Hylda."

Her heart stopped. Her eyes locked onto his green ones, and her tears fell quicker now.

_No…_

_Say it back!_

_No._

_You know you do!_

_No…_

Once again, Hylda spoke without thinking.

"A monster is not capable of love."

Without another word, the woman turned and walked out of the room.


End file.
